


Denial Tried

by shipcestuous (x4ashes4ashes)



Category: The Thundermans
Genre: Brother/Sister Incest, F/M, Future Fic, Incest, Sibling Incest, Twincest, now you get the idea, takes place in one day, used to be canon compliant but now features an outdated still villainish max, wacky all night adventure
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-13
Updated: 2015-11-02
Packaged: 2018-04-26 06:45:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 31,903
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4994254
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/x4ashes4ashes/pseuds/shipcestuous
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"You really think this could work? <i>Us</i>, together? It's insanity."</p>
<p>"Beats being apart."</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Feliz Cumpleaños

Going down to Hero University to surprise Nora on her birthday had seemed like a good idea at the time. In retrospect, however, _never_ \- in the vast history of mankind, of the planet, of the universe – had a worse idea ever been conceived.

 

Nora was turning 18 – a big year – and this was her first semester away at college, her first time away from home. She was a tough girl – tough as _nails_ – but it’s not easy for anyone to strike out on their own, not even a nails-tough girl. And Nora wasn’t a normal girl, and so it would be abnormally hard for her - because there’s nothing lonelier than a secret. Even if it’s a good secret and not a bad secret. Even if that secret is awesome super powers and an awesome superhero family, and even if, technically, within the confines of her college, that was not a secret that needed to be kept. (And, even if, technically, she wasn’t alone as she might have been, since Billy was there too. But she looked after him, and not the other way around. And Phoebe wondered if Billy and Nora might be drifting apart at college, like she and Max had begun to do at that time. She wondered if that was another burden for her.)

 

Phoebe remembered her own first year…it hadn’t been lonely, exactly, but the homesickness had been brutal. She had missed everything: her mother’s overcooked eggs, the familiar scent of the laundry detergent her mother always used; her father laughing hysterically at Youtube videos, his goodbye bear hugs; Chloe’s one-liners, Chloe’s _powers_ ;  Nora’s misplaced bows, Billy’s irrational deductions, their tea parties with Dr. Colosso; Max’s daily pranks, Max accidentally setting something on fire with one of his inventions – a weekly occurrence, Max drinking her orange juice while she wasn’t looking, the sound of Max rifling through the cupboards for a snack – an hourly occurrence, Max’s leather jacket - which he sometimes let her wear when she was cold, Max’s stupid stupid ring tone (“Hips Don’t Lie”).

 

A million small things that didn’t seem very small once they were gone.

 

That had been hard on Phoebe, even though she had been excited, but Nora hadn’t even wanted to live in the dorms – she had wanted to rent an apartment and live with Billy. Phoebe had been the one who had insisted to their parents that Nora give dorm life a try - for the experience, and to make new friends in her new environment – and so Phoebe felt partially responsible for how Nora might be doing as a dorm-dwelling freshman of only two months.

 

When she had suggested the university trip to Max, she had expected some resistance – it being an act of kindness and all - but he was on board right away. The twins had both graduated from Hero University three years previous. Max, of course, had wanted to attend Villain University, but their parents wouldn’t pay for it, and so he was out of luck. After graduation, Max had gone on to be a mid-level employee at a private gadget firm, but it had gone belly-up just three weeks earlier, and – naturally - he had not been saving any of his income, and had been forced to move back home – temporarily - while he sought new employment.

 

Phoebe had been apprenticing with Ms. Marvelous, the premiere lady superhero in Metroburg, but “Ms. Marvelous” had become a “Mrs.”, and was about to become “Mother Marvelous”. It made sense to cut down on your superheroing when you had a bun in the oven – Phoebe could not imagine her flying around while in her third trimester – the skin-tight, shiny, scarlet-red leotard certainly wouldn’t fit. But that didn’t leave Phoebe any less uprooted. (And Phoebe suspected that Ms. Marvelous’ retirement had something to do with the St. Gabriel’s Children’s Hospital fire a month earlier, and her inability to prevent it from claiming any victims. Ms. Marvelous had been so dejected in the week after. It was a harsh lesson for Phoebe about the challenges of crime fighting. It made her feel not entirely prepared.) But more-or-less Phoebe was ready to become a superhero in her own right – and she’d had a successful trial run during Ms. Marvelous’ honeymoon - but she had decided to return home first to learn a few more lessons from the two best superheroes she had ever known – Thunder Man and Electriss.

 

(And to find some way to deal with the fact that what she truly dreamed of would never be.)

 

But Hank and Barb had had empty nest syndrome with two of the three youngest now away at college - and Chloe, with her teleportation power, school, and an active social life, was almost never around - and they had each taken larger bites than they could chew of hobbies, clubs, and committees. (Chloe suspected that actually their parents just _wanted_ an empty nest, even though they didn’t quite have one yet.) Unfortunately for them, the nest de-emptied itself further as both Phoebe and Max, poor and untethered, returned to their childhood home. Which left the twins pottering around the vacant house from morning ‘til night while their parents were out at meetings and events, an awkward mix of bored and content, alone and together. Getting along and…not getting along.

 

A very awkward mix, in fact. So Phoebe, truthfully, wasn’t entirely surprised when Max agreed to the day trip, even if it meant doing something uncharacteristically sweet. Like her, he was probably eager for a buffer between them. Someone else around to just make it… _easier_.

 

Phoebe had texted Chloe, because it would have been a hell of a lot easier if she had just teleported all of them there – she could certainly get a hall pass and fit it all in during a bathroom break - but after waiting an hour and a half for Chloe to either appear or reply, Phoebe decided their littlest sister was currently incommunicado, and they couldn’t wait anymore or they would miss their window, and so they set out on their own, the long way. Phoebe found some banners and balloons in the attic before they left home and they were going to pick up an ice cream cake – Nora’s favorite – when they were closer to the university.

 

“I can’t believe little Nora’s going to be 18,” Phoebe ventured conversationally as she merged onto the freeway in her sensible little Volkswagen. (At one point Max had had his own car too, a red Mercedes Benz, but he had been forced to hand it over to his creditors.) They had gone out together only twice since they had both been home – both times to the grocery store.  Sometimes Max liked to drive, sometimes he didn’t. (It was the same in high school.) Usually she preferred it when he did – because when he was in the passenger seat and she was behind the wheel all he did was criticize her driving. Ironic, since he was the reckless one behind the wheel. The reckless one _always_. And ironic, since he didn’t even have a car anymore. But he seemed easygoing enough of a passenger today - Dr. Colosso on his lap and a bag of chips in his hand. He was quiet, and absorbed in the sights out of his window (orange trees and leaves falling) and the crunching of his Doritos. (He only winced once when she was too passive about changing lanes, sighing with disapproval.)

 

“She’s always been… _old_ ,” Max observed. “Her turning 18 seems like more of a formality.”

 

Phoebe looked sharply at him – the last thing she had been expecting was a penetrating remark. During the past few weeks - their unpaid, involuntary unemployment staycation – Max had been not only uncharacteristically quiet, but downright uncommunicative. Most of his replies were monosyllabic – better defined as grunts than words. At first she thought he was depressed about the loss of his job, but he had a resilient nature and it had gone on too long. It was starting to feel personal.

 

She had tried to engage him in discussions about his city life – his thrilling job, his fancy apartment, his nights on the town with a girl on each arm. (As little as she had seen him, she had seen enough to witness all of this.) They had paid him well at Sidious Tech and he had been living it up until the money ran out. (Max had insisted the company wasn’t run by supervillains – Phoebe wasn’t convinced. Sarkany Maldeck, the owner and CEO, had evil mastermind written all over him, and the mission statement she had found on the website sounded more like an anarchic manifesto than a business plan.  Max had also insisted that Sidious Tech hadn’t been shut down by the S.E.C.; she was not convinced of the latter either.) But Max had no inclination to talk about that bygone era. He answered her questions without details, as if it were a hostile police interrogation and he had a lawyer whispering in his ear to say only what was necessary.

 

And whenever she tried to tell him about her nights on the street fighting crime with Ms. Marvelous, or the sunny days of the uptown life she had shared with Cherry – who was a burgeoning social-media consultant at a major magazine – their yoga in the park and the nice café with the amazing chocolate croissants where they went every morning, he would shut her down. And usually leave the room as well.

 

There were some good moments. She spent a few days baking, and always called him up from his lair (which their parents had left intact, unlike Phoebe’s room, which had been given to Nora) to lick the bowl, and then again to try the product fresh out of the oven. Sugary baked goods earned her a smile or two, sometimes a full sentence even. They watched a few movies together – he would relax as he got involved in the story, sinking comfortably into the sofa and yelling humorously at the TV. He always glanced at her furtively to see if she was laughing at his jokes. She always was. She liked his stupid jokes, she liked that he cared whether she thought they were funny or not.

 

And then there was _Elfstar_.

 

He refused to play Scrabble with her, and Scattergories, and checkers, so one day she plopped down on the sofa next to him, picked up a controller, and kept pressing buttons until he caved and let her play his new video game with him. _Land_ _of_ _Elfstar_ – something that sounded really stupid but was actually really cool. It was the most popular game out that year, but Phoebe had thought that was some sort of collective insanity until she started playing it and got hooked. At first his greatest amusement came from how quickly she would get killed, even though they were working as a team and it should have been a nuisance to him - sometimes he even arranged for her to be slain in the most gruesome way possible. (“Double fire arrow though the stomach! Classic!”) Her preferred character, Sister Amarthina, bore quite a resemblance to herself, which gave him even more delight. (His own favorite, Lord Jayesen, was a gangly ginger. Not the fiercest looking elf in the land but his arrows were devastating.)

 

But then Max started protecting her, even as he was vocally eviscerating her for her “truly astonishing lack of skill”, even when it put the success of their mission at risk. She had become invested in her character and in her character’s survival, and she took it hard when she would die in the game. Whimpering, sighing dispiritedly. Making generally sad and/or puckered faces. So Max started protecting her at all costs until she developed the skills to hold her own.

 

They had become so immersed in the game that it was activating their thundersense – which was probably the only way they were able to win it so quickly. (Though Max probably wouldn’t have said it was quick at all.) They developed an unspoken coordination, traded off as lead harmoniously (Max probably would have insisted he was lead the entire time, but he wasn’t), and teased each other in _Elf_ -speak at the dinner table. (-“You pass the butter like you kill goblins – too late to do anyone any good!”  -“At least I didn’t waste all my teltaka on a Mantikan sword that won’t even pierce their armor!” Or their favorite – the catchphrase from the game: “It only takes one spark of the Elfstar!” – always said with an accompanying raised arm, of course – “It only takes one meatball of the Spaghetti!”, “It only takes one shot of the Vodka!”…”Or maybe two!”)

 

It had been an exciting distraction, and the all-too-quick completion of the game left a hole in their temporary new lives. That had been four days ago. Monday. They beat the game, and now she felt like she needed an excuse to be with him, and he was back to treating her like a roommate’s cantankerous cat rather than his…his _Phoebe_.

 

Maybe the trip to visit Nora would provide another distraction.

 

Despite the sentiment of her inane small talk, she agreed with him about their little sister. Nora was… _old_. She had been old at 8 and now she was old at 18. Nora had always seen the world with the eyes of someone who had been through all of it before. She wasn’t always wise, but she didn’t get too hung up on things that didn’t really matter. It was like she already understood that life was too short for that. If she was frivolous, it was because she was living in the moment. If she was harsh, it was because she was honest. And if she was single-minded, or even selfish, it was because she didn’t give up on what she wanted.

 

“It’s a good thing Billy’s got her,” both Max and Phoebe said in unison, following his statement. It might have been a joke, and they might have laughed at the jinx - but it wasn’t, and they didn’t. Phoebe smiled lightly at her brother as if to say _what a twin thing, to say the exact same thing at the exact same time_. But he didn’t return it, and swiveled his head back to his window.

 

 _What a twin thing, to barely speak to me and leave my smile hanging_.

 

 _Jerk_.

 

“Yeah, that kid’s an idiot,” Dr. Colosso said. He meant it, but he meant it affectionately.

 

Even Max smiled at that.          

 

Billy’s particular brand of…boyish _naïveté_ – his guileless gullibility, his ingenuous innocence, his often directionless enthusiasm, his attraction to shiny objects - was not something that seriously troubled anyone in the family. Billy was Billy. He always would be Billy. But maybe the only reason they didn’t worry about Billy was because he had Nora.

 

That’s why it wasn’t a joke. That was why they didn’t laugh. Billy had Nora. Nora had Billy. But who did _they_ have?

 

Phoebe hadn’t been lonely at H.U. And in Metroburg she had Cherry and Ms. Marvelous and a whole line-up of friendly acquaintances and flirtations. (And she had Max, too, on the rare occasion. Though not as often as she would have liked. They both lived in Metroburg but it might as well have been two different cities for all that they saw each other. She suspected he had been avoiding her…She had always just assumed he had been kidding all those times he had said he couldn’t wait to get away from her. But maybe he hadn’t been.) It wasn’t loneliness. But it was something. A void. It was a quick pang first thing in the morning and last thing at night. It was a chink in the structure of her life.

 

“We all have a thread of dissatisfaction in our lives,” Cherry had told her. It sounded like a line lifted right out of the magazine she worked for. Cherry tended to cry all of her heartbreak out in one agonized burst and then move on. She didn’t understand. She didn’t know what it was like to not know what you wanted but to want it all of the time.

 

Billy had Nora, Nora had Billy, Phoebe had no one.

 

“I hope his grades are all right,” Phoebe fretted.“What will he do if he gets kicked out?”

 

Max looked her over, and her eyes were on the road but she thought she saw the shadow of a smile.

 

“He’s got ‘pizza delivery’ written all over him,” opined Dr. Colosso, laughing at his own joke. Max smacked him lightly. “What? With his speed he’ll be the best in the biz. He deserves to be the best at something.”

 

“If he flunks out of school, then he’ll find something else. Another school, another path. Whatever. He’ll be fine. And if we have to take care of him, well then…we will,” Max said pragmatically. No jokes. No bullshit. Just a simple _it’ll be fine because we’ll make it fine_.

 

It was Phoebe’s turn to smile. She was the worrier; Max didn’t worry. If he couldn’t move, then he twisted the shape of the world to fit him where he stood. That was the Max she knew, not the sullen companion of the past few weeks. Well, it wasn’t exactly like him to be so thoughtful or giving, but he was a little more back to old self.

 

But she didn’t quite buy into his optimistic tone. Billy sounded like a pet project – _If I can’t be happy, I’ll make sure that Billy is. Billy will have everything that I can’t have._ Perhaps Phoebe didn’t have the evidence to reach that conclusion, but somehow she sensed it.

Billy didn’t usually go to the twins for help. He went to Nora. But when he did call on Max for aid, Max gave it freely, without pretense. He always….well, _usually_ …had Phoebe’s back, but Max relished the hero big brother role when it came to Billy.

 

“Besides, he graduated from high school, didn’t he?” Max reminded her.

 

“Barely,” Phoebe responded, though she knew that wasn’t fair. Billy almost failed his senior year, but only because he tanked his grades on purpose. Nora had skipped 6th grade – which, according to her, wasn’t that difficult to do if you really wanted to do it – and Billy had decided – on his own - that he would repeat 12th grade so that the two of them could matriculate together.

 

It was not one of his better ideas.

 

After stern lectures from everyone – including Nora - he got back on track, graduated, and then took a year off to “work” before he and Nora headed off to H.U. side-by-side. Phoebe wasn’t sure how much work he actually did during that year – from what she could tell he had joined up with a painting crew that only needed him for a few hours a week, which left him plenty of time to travel the world. One Tuesday she had called him during her lunch break, and he had been building houses in Guatemala earlier that day. _Multiple_ houses. In Guatemala. Before lunch. That was Billy at his best. All heart.

 

When Billy became a superhero, Nora would be the one tagging along.

 

“Maybe I don’t give him enough credit,” Phoebe conceded.

 

They didn’t talk much during the rest of the drive. Which was pretty typical for what their relationship had become. Max turned on the radio and chose a station he knew she wouldn’t enjoy – but she didn’t mind, because it felt like the good old days: Max being his intentionally antagonistic self, but intentionally antagonistic in a way that was devoted. She fought him a little on it, but only for show. Only because she knew it was only fun for him if she _was_ antagonized. And when it came to Max, she didn’t have as much pride as she ought to, but she had enough to at least hide the fact that she was just grateful for his attention, no matter how he chose to give it to her.

 

It was pathetic.

 

When he finished his chips, he wiped the Dorito dust off his index finger in a streak down her cheek. She rolled her eyes and pulled an individually-wrapped moistened towelette from the glove compartment, wiping her face and then handing it to him to clean his hands He made an amused study of the other ordered and tightly-packed treasures to be found in there – a flashlight, a granola bar, a charger for her mePhone, a bottle of water, a toothbrushing kit, etc. - smiling at her all the while. She recognized his “Oh, Phoebe” expression - of course she was worried about Billy’s grades, of course she was prepared for everything and everything. Phoebe was Phoebe was Phoebe.

 

*/*/*

 

Max grew impatient – and cold (even in his leather jacket) - while she deliberated over frozen cakes. Due to the spontaneous nature of the idea, she had not been able to call head and order one to be specially made, and the selection at the store near campus, wich was smaller than she remembered, left something to be desired. The entire bakery section had been taken over by Halloween, which was only a few days away. The choice was between one covered in soccer balls that read “Happy 11th birthday” and one with red flowers dedicated “¡Feliz Cumpleaños, Ana!”

 

“The one with the flowers, duh,” Max said, brushing roughly past her and picking up Ana’s cake.

 

“It’s in Spanish!”

 

“So? It says ‘Happy Birthday’.”

 

“Yeah: ‘Happy Birthday… _Ana’_. It’s got someone else’s name on it!”

 

“Perfect – we’ll get a discount. Ana, Nora, what’s the difference? Practically the same name.”

 

“You don’t think she’ll care?” Phoebe was more than skeptical.

 

“She shouldn’t care: cake is cake.”

 

“’Shouldn’t care’ is _not_ the same.”

 

“It’ll be great. She likes flowers. It’s Ana’s loss. What’s that girl’s problem anyway?” He was already at the check-out.

 

Sighing, Phoebe followed.

 

“It’s too bad they didn’t have any cakes decorated with maces or uzis,” Max bemoaned. “Pink ones, of course.” Phoebe laughed. A cake covered in pink machine guns described their sister perfectly. Sugar and spice and everything…violent. The girl was a bayonet in a pink bow.

 

*/*/*

 

Max picked the lock to Nora’s dorm while Phoebe balanced the cake in one arm, Dr. Colosso’s portable cage and all of the decorations in the other, and stood watch.

All of the street thugs and villains she had busted with Ms. Marvelous – they had even faced off against the Dark Dragon, Ms. Marvelous’ arch-nemesis and the most famous supervillain in town - and yet she still found it exciting to play look-out for Max while he broke into their own little sister’s dorm room to decorate it for her birthday. Phoebe had chosen the timing carefully – she knew Nora had class then. She had decided not to call Billy – he would have already told Nora before he even realized it was supposed to be a secret.

 

Down the hall person or persons unknown were bumping a frighteningly explicit and un-censored ballad detailing a couple’s first time. “ _Damn those tits be fine_ ,” the artist sang, the line echoing through the residence hall. Max looked over at her, and she wanted to pretend like she hadn’t been listening the song, but it was too loud for that – and it was catchy and she had been tapping her foot.

 

It only made it worse that she stopped tapping her foot when their eyes met.

 

She was lost in thought for a moment, but when she looked up she saw a pretty red-haired student turning the corner into their corridor. “Someone’s coming!” she said urgently, but Max couldn’t hear her over the music. “Someone. Coming. Now!” she then shouted.

 

Max shrugged and kept at the lock.

 

Shrieking, she ran over and tugged on his arm. It didn’t occur to her until later that she might have used her powers to stop him instead “What are you doing? We’ll get caught!”

 

“So? We’re totally legit.” He pointed to the balloons and the pet rabbit. “We hardly look like troublemakers. Campus security wouldn’t even give us a second glance. Hey, actually, that’s not a bad cover.” He pulled out his cellphone and began typing in a memo. He paused in the act, as if he had thought better of the idea, but Phoebe didn’t have time to wonder what was going on. She snaked her arm around his and pulled him up to stand beside her at the door as if they were waiting on someone to open it for them.

 

He instantly unhooked his arm and took a step to the side. “Maybe we should knock just in case?” he bellowed over the music.

 

“Oh. I didn’t even think of that.”

 

Max rapped on the door. They waited. Nothing happened.

 

They continued to stand there awkwardly, waiting for the pretty redhead to pass. She tossed her hair when she saw Max. Phoebe noticed her brother do a double take and his eyes followed her as she passed them and then rounded out of the corridor. Checking her out was a good excuse to watch her until she was gone but Phoebe knew that wasn’t why Max had been staring. She felt a wave of irritability wash over her. 

 

 “ _Been thinkin’ ‘bout this for a long time, glad I finally grew a spine_ ” the words of the song continued.

 

Max pushed her further away and then dropped down to his knees and continued to jingle with the lock. She regained her balance after a few wobbles, her mass holdings teetering.  

 

“There,” Max said proudly, as a mechanic clink they couldn’t hear over the music signaled that the inner mechanism had turned and the door popped free. He kicked the heavy wooden door open further to reveal the prison-cell-sized room.

 

And all that was in it.

 

And all that was _happening_ in it.

 

Phoebe had barely processed what she had seen before her ears were filled with shrieks.  She lost control of her hands, and the rabbit and the cake went to the floor while the balloons floated up towards the ceiling.

 

“Oh, shit,” Max murmured beside her, staring in.

 

Phoebe’s screams joined the chorus of those inside. She stepped on the cake in her panic as she reached out, grabbed the door handle, and yanked it shut with her, Max, and all they had brought on the outside again.

 

“Oh my God,” she whispered, wide-eyed and shell-shocked.

 

“Honestly, I’m not that surprised,” Dr. Colosso said, munching on a carrot.

 

Yes, this had been a terrible idea.


	2. Really Quite Simple

Phoebe was a ripe-tomato red. She met Max’s eyes once briefly to confirm that she had really seen what she thought she had seen, and then looked down at the ancient blue carpet of the dormitory hallway in embarrassment. “Oh my God,” she repeated, barely audible.

 

Nora’s neighbors to the right were still blasting their bass-heavy music – it had muffled any sound that Phoebe and Max might have heard inside of Nora’s room before breaking in, and it continued to hide whatever was going on inside of there now. Phoebe pictured a mad scramble – covers and clothes flying everywhere and Nora hissing at Billy to calm down.

 

Phoebe coughed uncomfortably: “W-was he…?” Her eyebrows finished the question that her mouth couldn’t.

 

Max had begun to laugh. “He sure was. Creative! I have _never_ wished I had Billy’s superpower more than I do right now. That would really come in handy…” He paused. “Perhaps I should rephrase.”

 

She glared a dagger at him and then groaned: “I will never be able to unsee this.”

 

“‘This’ what? The Brilliant Vibrating Billy Thunderman? Or witnessing our younger siblings rounding the bases… _with each other_?”

 

She let out a little cry.

 

 “Well, I have to say, as a supervillain, an evil scientist, and one of their dearest friends, I completely approve,” Dr. Colosso mused. “They wanted what they wanted and they went for it.”

 

Max looked sharply at the rabbit, and the two of them had a silent exchange that Phoebe couldn’t decrypt.

 

“You’re not thinking about what’s best for them, Dr. Colosso,” Phoebe chided.

 

“I don’t _know_ what’s best for them,” he retorted. “Neither do you.”

 

“You can’t possibly think this is all right?” she persisted.

 

“All I’m saying is that maybe it’s not the end of the world.” He shifted his gaze towards his master. “Wouldn’t you agree, _Max_?” he coaxed slowly.

 

Max frowned at him and did not follow the trail. Phoebe was curious about the exchange but there was too much else going on for her to start chasing tangents. She noted with satisfaction that her brother’s amusement was gone - he was now scratching his head pensively. He enjoyed scandal, and he enjoyed seeing Phoebe shocked, but he must have finally taken in how grave the situation really was.

 

Max was spared from speaking: the door swung open widely, and in a flash Billy swept up his older siblings and their cargo and whirlwinded them into the tiny residence, the door slamming shut once again behind them.

 

Directly in front of them Nora appeared the very definition of wanton – sexily mussed hair cascading haphazardly over her shoulders and over the spaghetti straps of a glamorous lavender nightgown that was only a few one or two square inches of fabric away from being lingerie. She cut a dramatic figure backlit against her open third-floor window, her curves illuminated by the play of light.

 

Max and Phoebe stared, agape.

 

“So…Happy Birthday,” Max said, sing-song.

 

Nora patronized his attempt to break the ice with a smile. His feigned obliviousness was cute.

 

“ _You moanin’, I moanin’…”_ More explicit lyrics drifted in from next door, intensifying the awkwardness of the moment.

 

Billy stood beside Nora and tried to push a bathrobe into her hands. She swatted him away and then threw her head in the direction of the wall in a commanding gesture. Billy followed her orders and banged his fist repeatedly against it until Nora’s neighbors turned down their dirty ditty.

 

She leaned back against the window and shook a cigarette free of its carton. Lighting it with her laser vision, she placed it between her lips.  

 

“You _smoke_?” Phoebe gasped, her former horror momentarily replaced by this new one.

 

“Only post-coital,” Nora answered her provocatively, tossing her hand to indicate a small garbage can overflowing with empty cartons.

 

Billy had plopped down into her desk chair, his arms crossed nervously across his still-bare chest, but he couldn’t help but laugh at the evidence of their affair. Nora turned her head and smiled at him - softly, warmly – and for a second he didn’t seem to notice that the others were there. But then he felt them staring and he jumped back up to his feet. “You said they wouldn’t care,” he whispered angrily to her.

 

“No, I said they _shouldn’t_ care.” Nora leveled an intense look on Phoebe that bewildered her before taking another drag off her cigarette. “It’s not the same.”

 

Max dashed over to his younger sister and ripped the cigarette out of her mouth. He blew ice on it to extinguish the spark – an excessive amount of ice - and then let it fly out the window. “Those are cancer sticks. And they cause fires too.”

 

“I thought you were cool,” Nora responded scathingly. Her pun was not intended.

 

“Well there’s cool and then there’s just plain stupid.”

 

“And then there’s cool,” Nora added, but she didn’t extract a replacement cigarette.

 

Both she and Phoebe were touched by this rare exhibition of Max’s protective side. It shook Phoebe out of her catatonia, and she grabbed the strings of the ranging balloons and tied them down to the door handle.

 

This drew Billy’s attention to the cake which had taken another beating when it had been kicked inside the dorm. He dove for it and then gingerly removed the bent plastic shell. In the trauma “¡FELIZ CUMPLEAÑOS, ANA!” had been reduced to “CUM ANA!”, and the exclamation point looked more like an “l” than was comfortable for everyone looking at it, even though that thought wasn’t _directly_ relevant to what had been going on.

 

Except for Billy, of course. He tilted it towards Nora. “They brought a cake!”

 

Nora frowned. “Jesus, Phoebe, what kind of cake did you get me?”

 

“Red flowers?” Phoebe ventured, biting her lip.

 

“I don’t know what that is but it sounds filthy.”

 

“Oh, you’re one to talk.”

 

“Excuse me?”

 

“’ _Excuse me_?’ she says!”

 

Phoebe was beginning to gesticulate wildly and speak to an invisible audience – always a bad sign. Max caught her arms and held them down against her sides.

 

“I just can’t believe you would make fun of us like that. How did you even do that so fast?” Nora demanded.

 

“We didn’t!” Phoebe protested. “It said that before.”

 

“It _did_?”

 

“Well, not _that_ exactly.”

 

“And who the hell is Ana? Maybe you should be giving _her_ a hard time and not us.”

 

Max stuck out his index finger and manipulated the frosting with his telekinesis, erasing the letters. “It was a lovely, delicious cake. Now it’s a not-so-lovely but still very delicious cake. Maybe we should all have some before it melts,” Max mediated.

 

Everyone stared at him in disbelief. Why wasn’t he stirring the pot?

 

Max released his hold on Phoebe. When he went over to look for forks he seemed so far away to her.

 

 “We should sing!” Billy suggested eagerly. “Did you bring candles?”

 

“We’re not going to _sing_ , Billy!” Phoebe cried, exasperated. “We are going to have a _conversation_.”

 

The others shuddered. Nothing could have sounded worse.

 

“First of all, why aren’t you in class?” the older sister demanded. “I know you have History of Heroes right now.”

 

“It’s my _birthday_!” Nora answered. “I’m not going to go to class on my _birthday_.” She looked to Max, who nodded at her in approval.

 

Phoebe conceded this point reluctantly. She always went to class on her birthday, of course - but if you were going to skip, you had might as well do it for a special occasion. “Well, I don’t like it,” she added lamely.

 

“Noted,” Nora said indifferently, and she and Max exchanged a laugh.

 

Phoebe turned to her twin and glared. “You’re not helping.”

 

“When did I say I would h-”

 

“Anyway,” Phoebe continued, cutting him off, “WHAT THE HELL, GUYS?” She rotated her gaze back and forth between Nora and Billy, waiting for some sort of explanation.

 

None was forthcoming, though Nora did roll her eyes.

 

“Maybe I should be asking _you_ that!” Nora declared. “Ever heard of knocking? You can’t just go around willy-nilly picking locks and entering private residences!”

 

“We did knock!”

 

Billy nodded. “Yeah, they did. Remember? I was like ‘I think there’s someone at the door,’ and you were like “Screw them!’.”

 

Nora turned to Phoebe: “Well, sorry, but I was in the _middle_ of something. Are _you_ in the habit of getting up in the middle of sex to answer the phone or the door?”

 

Phoebe grimaced at the word “sex”. She felt Max look at her suddenly. When did all the attention turn to her?

 

“Because _I’m_ not,” Nora finished. “I’m not into that orgasm-denial thing.”

 

“Yes you are,” Billy reminded her.

 

Nora gave a self-deprecating half laugh. “He’s right. I am. I totally am.” Her face reassumed its indignation and she wagged her finger. “But not like this.”

 

Phoebe shook her head. “Is _this_ why you wanted to live together?”

 

Billy nodded readily, garnering an annoyed sigh from Nora.

 

Nora shrugged. “It’s not as if we wouldn’t have wanted to live together anyway. Our plan was always to live together. To live together forever.” She bestowed another shining smile on Billy, who shimmered shyly in its light. 

 

For a second Phoebe felt bad about the accusation. It cheapened Billy and Nora’s bond to suggest that sex between them fundamentally altered it. She glanced around the room more closely. There was men’s clothing hanging in the closet, and several sets of men’s shoes lining the bottom of it. Nora’s food shelf was packed with Billy’s favorites. His night light – it would come as no surprise to anyone that he still used it – was plugged into the outlet beside the bed. “You basically live here, don’t you?” Phoebe asked him.

 

Billy flopped his head from side to side, wavering on interpretations. “You could probably say that.”

 

His manner was embarrassed – he did not care for the scrutiny of his elder siblings, and particularly not for being yelled at – but he was not ashamed. If it occurred to him that shame was an expected response, he did not show that either. This rattled Phoebe, and she could not decide whether it was infuriating her or beginning to affect her initial judgment.

 

“How long has this been going on?” Max asked quietly, his first foray into the matter-at-hand.

 

Nora’s nonchalant façade cracked. She nodded at Billy to answer.

 

“Er…always, I guess,” was Billy’s reply.

 

“Always?” Phoebe cried. “What do you mean ‘always’? What the hell does that mean?”

 

“Well, when was your first kiss?” Max specified. He was more satisfied than Phoebe with their answer of ‘always’ but he clearly wanted to know more.

 

Billy looked to Nora for guidance. She vacillated internally on her answer before saying, “Always.”

 

“That doesn’t even make sense,” Phoebe protested angrily.

 

Max was frustrated at the answer, but not with Nora for saying it. “Well, when was the first time you…?”

 

“Fucked?” Nora finished for him. It was a challenge – she was daring them to belittle her and Billy’s relationship like that.

 

Phoebe recognized the challenge and retreated. She shook her had as if to say _No, that’s not what we mean._

Billy turned to look sharply at Nora, offended by her word choice. But Phoebe noticed him relax. He didn’t quite understand what Nora was doing but he understood Nora, and understood she meant quite the opposite of what she had said.

 

“Much later than I would have liked,” Nora answered, shaking her head affectionately at Billy. For the third time something passed between them that filled Phoebe with a curious twisting inside. Whatever she was feeling, it wasn’t disapproval.

 

Nora tore her eyes away from Billy and faced Max and Phoebe head-on: “Billy and I are together. It’s really _quite_ simple.”

 

“It’s not simple at all!” Phoebe argued.

 

Max made an utterance.

 

Phoebe shifted her gaze to him. “Well? Do you have something to say? Or do I have to show them the light all by myself?”

 

“Well, don’t you think you’re being a little hard on them?”

 

“Do _you_?”

 

Max bit his lip. He didn’t answer.

 

“Thank God Chloe isn’t here to see this!” Phoebe exclaimed.

 

She noticed Max check his phone. He didn’t seem to share her relief.

 

“All in favor of eating cake and Phoebe shutting up?” Dr. Colosso proposed. Everyone but Phoebe raised their hands – or in Dr. Colosso’s case, his paw.

 

“Great!” Max exclaimed, handing out forks.

 

*/*/*

 

The silence while they slurped up the melting ice cream cake was a welcome respite.

 

Billy had invited Max and Phoebe to sit down on the bed that had briefly belonged to Nora’s roommate – his easy hosting further evidence he was a co-inhabitant of the dormitory. The two beds sat opposite each other in the small, square room - at a right angle to the entrance on one side and the window on the other.

 

Billy sat down on Nora’s bed and scooched back against the wall, and she slid backwards between his legs and reclined against his chest. It was not an aggressively ostentatious PDA, and though it shocked, Phoebe – in the same way that everything continued to shock her since she had first seen what had been on the other side of that door - she knew she was not being intentionally needled like earlier.

 

Nora ate her cake with introspective delight; Billy played with her hair absent-mindedly in between forkfuls. 

 

Max and Phoebe both stared at them, wide-eyed. This time it wasn’t the existence of the relationship itself that had them gaping, but the tenderness.

 

Phoebe couldn’t get a read on Max’s expression – it mystified her. She used to know him better than anyone and now she couldn’t make heads or tails of his reactions. The thought that she might no longer truly know him made her so sad she couldn’t bear it. It nauseated her. They had never been constant companions like Billy and Nora, but they had been close in their way. No matter how the day had started it out, it had always seemed to end with them together. How had it come to _this_?

 

The older siblings began discussing other things, carefully avoiding that one particular subject. Phoebe drilled Billy and Nora about their classes – they were mostly going, and mostly doing OK. Max wanted to know about the friends they’ve made and what their superpowers were, and all the _other_ crazy antics they were getting up to now that they weren’t living with their parents anymore.

 

As Phoebe had predicted, Nora hadn’t made any friends that had lasted for more than a couple of days, and Billy thought everyone he exchanged two words with was his new BFF. Billy’s roommate appreciated the fact that Billy was never around, and Nora had scared her roommate away a couple of weeks after classes had started, right at the point when it was late enough in the semester that she was unlikely to be given a new one.

 

 “Atta girl. Calculating: I love it,” Max applauded.

 

“Maybe you should get dressed,” Phoebe said to her younger sister. When Nora leaned over the low v-neck on her sleepwear did not leave much to the imagination.

 

“I’m still hoping you guys will leave and let Billy and I finish what we had planned.”

 

“Oh? And what did you have planned for your birthday?” Phoebe asked mockingly.

 

“What you saw. And more of the same.”

 

“Would you stop! Max and I don’t want to hear that kind of stuff.”

 

“Nora, you’re being rude,” Billy intervened. “You and I are together every day, but Max and Phoebe drove all the way up here to see you on your birthday. We should all go out to dinner tonight and then all go together to the party.”

 

Nora gave Billy’s comments a respectful moment of consideration and then shook her head. “No way. I can’t deal with her for another 5 minutes let alone the rest of the night. She keeps looking around the room like it’s some sort of perverted sex den.”

 

“Party?” Dr. Colosso asked. “Par-tay!”

 

“I think that sounds perfect, Billy,” Phoebe responded, ignoring Nora.

 

“It’s a Halloween party!” Billy explained excitedly. “Costumes only. It’s going to be a blast!”

 

“Uh, Phoebe,” Max started, controlled but outraged. “I am not going to some college costume party, OK? No offense, guys, but I _shudder_ to think what kind of loser freshman party you got invited to, and I am at least six years too old to be going to it no matter what. It would be pathetic.”

 

“You guys get dressed and I’ll convince this one,” Phoebe instructed, forcing Max into the hallway and shutting the door.

 

“This is not happening.” Max stated. “We don’t even have costumes. Why do you even want to go? You hate fun. Ohhhhhh, _that’s_ why you want to go.”

 

“Would you shut up for a minute? This isn’t about the party. I just want a little more time to figure this thing out.”

 

Max shook his head angrily at her. “What’s to figure out?”

 

She furrowed her brow in confusion, and the two of them stared each other down.

 

Max ran a hand through his hair, relented, and calmed himself down. “It’s like Nora said: it’s simple - they’re together,” he continued.  “You’re taking this worse than Mom will. They’re both at least 18 – it’s none of our business.”

 

Phoebe took a deep breath, forcing down her exasperation, and summoning forth what patience she had left. “It’s anything but simple, Max! If anyone finds out about this it could ruin their whole lives. It’s all anyone will remember about them. And it’s illegal! What if Nora gets pregnant? The baby would be born before they had decided what to do. And Billy - what if he’s only doing it because it’s what Nora wants? That’s not fair to him.”

 

“Did you see him in there? He’s _in love_ with her! They’re in love, Phoebe. Sometimes other people are happy. It’s a thing that happens. It sucks, but that’s life. Get over it.”

 

“I won’t feel right leaving until I know it’s what they both want and that they’re happy and being careful. They’re our little brother and sister, Max! We need to look out for them.”

 

He sighed. “Well what do you have in mind? A chat about protection? I can tell you right now: I’m not doing that.”

 

“I just want to get them apart for a while. I’ll talk to Nora, you talk to Billy. Just-just make sure it’s what he really wants, OK? And that he’s not being stupid about it. I know he loves Nora, but she can be…”

 

“A slave driver?”

 

Phoebe frowned and amended his description: “She has a way of getting what she wants. And Billy would do anything for her.”

 

“Fine, fine. I’ll talk to him.”

 

“Don’t interrogate him, just, you know, get him talking.”

 

“I know how to talk to him,” Max snapped.

 

“I know you do. I’m sorry. It’s just that it’s a sensitive subject and he won’t want to say anything negative about her.”

 

“Maybe you should start thinking about how you can be there for them in a less interfering capacity. Like, I don’t know, _support_ them?”

 

Maybe he was right…

 

“If you’re concerned about what this will mean for their lives…well, I suppose you’re right to be,” Max continued heavily. “But if you’re worried about what they might be doing to each other then your head is not screwed on right. This is Billy and Nora. They’ve been inseparable their entire lives. You can’t honestly be surprised that what they want is to remain together? Or maybe you are,” Max finished bitterly, opening the door and going back inside.

 

In surprise, Phoebe stood immobile, watching him walk away.


	3. The Quality Of Being Nora

Neither Billy nor Nora was particularly eager to split from the other.

 

“It’s my birthday, I want to spend it with _Billy_ ,” Nora pointed out to Phoebe, as if explaining something to a small child. “I didn’t skip class to spend the day getting lectured by you.”

 

“Humor your big sister? I haven’t seen you in months, and I need a costume for the party. Let’s go shopping.”

 

“Max needs a costume too. Can’t we all go together?”

 

“No, because Max isn’t wearing a costume,” Max said, his arms crossed.

 

“Billy, I need you to get him to change his mind,” Phoebe instructed while pulling Nora towards the door. “Max might be embarrassed to wear a costume, but I’ll be embarrassed to show up to a costume party with a square who didn’t dress up.”

 

Billy saluted her.

 

Nora resisted Phoebe’s tugging, and dug her nails into the door frame. “I haven’t agreed to this.”

 

“I’ll buy you a new dress for your birthday present,” Phoebe offered, singing. “Any dress you want in any store as long as it’s in town.”

 

“See you later, Billy!” Nora waved, taking the lead on the departure.

 

Phoebe winked at Max and then chased after her.

 

“I hope it’s red,” Billy commented after they were gone, which Max could only assume referred to Nora’s future dress.

 

*/*/*

 

Much like the drive with Max to Hero University, the drive with Nora to the mall was quiet and awkward.

 

Phoebe could tell from the look on Nora’s face that she was anxious about being left alone with her older sister, but the first thing Phoebe did was apologize, after giving them each a few minutes of reflective silence: “I wanted to say I’m sorry.”

 

Nora frowned. “Really?”

 

Phoebe pulled into the parking lot and found a good spot near the entrance. She turned the car off and shifted towards Nora.

 

“Yes. _Really_. I wasn’t-I wasn’t being considerate of how you must have been feeling. I was so preoccupied with my own shock - I wasn’t thinking about how I was treating you. You and Billy were so vulnerable in that moment – you had this huge, scary secret and it was exposed in the worst way possible, and there I was judging and lecturing when you needed someone who would listen and support you. I shouldn’t have behaved like that. I’ve had a reality check. I want to be the kind of big sister you would confide in. All I did was confirm every worst fear you had of how I would react. I’ve spent too long being the responsible sibling, the eldest, the “good” twin to Max’s “bad” twin – it has given me an inflated ego. I always think I know what’s best and I hold myself up as a standard. But it’s not right. I’m just as lost as everybody else, probably more so... I still don’t know what to think about this whole thing, but… I love you and I’m on your side.”

 

Nora almost went limp with relief. “Thank you, Phoebe.” Tears glimmered in her eyes. “I _was_ scared. I didn’t know what you might do. I’m sorry I was so defensive - I didn’t mean to be rude. I’m glad you came to see me on my birthday. I’ve missed you so much!”

 

Phoebe pulled her into a hug. Nora resisted – almost comically – and then gave in. 

 

Phoebe leaned back into her seat comfortably. “So tell me. How did it start?”

 

Nora looked uncomfortable.

 

Phoebe smiled disarmingly. “It’s OK. You can tell me. I want to know. No judgments – I promise.”

 

Nora propped herself up on the dash and sighed. “It was at school. Not even high school – it was 7th grade. March… I was flirting with some guy in the hallway – some random guy. I was just flirting to flirt – I wasn’t angling to get asked out or anything. (I was only 12 – Mom wouldn’t have let me go on a date even if I had wanted to.) But Billy saw. He had been coming to find me at my locker. He asked me a million questions afterwards. He wanted to know when random guy and I were getting married and how many kids we were going to have and what we were going to name them. He felt so threatened, so insecure. He was sure he was going to be replaced. It didn’t take a genius to know he was jealous, though it did take someone smarter than Billy - he had no idea.” She shook her head in fondness “But when I realized he was jealous, I felt butterflies in my stomach. Thousands of them. The feeling hasn’t gone away since.” Nora smiled to herself.

 

Phoebe’s lips were parted in surprise. She hadn’t expected to be so moved. She could picture the moment so easily – Billy, flustered and afraid; Nora melting. A 7th grader in a bubble-gum-pink bow falling in love with her brother. Had it been harder on Nora, knowing exactly what was happening? Or on Billy, so clueless, so in love already?

 

Nora was wearing a bow today, too - black-and-white polka-dotted.  It made her look even younger than she was but Phoebe had the sudden sensation of being the young one, the inexperienced one. Nora had been in love…Phoebe never had been. Her most meaningful relationship, besides her family, was her friendship with Cherry. Aside from that, the kind of love Nora was talking about, Phoebe could only think of her siblings. What other love could compare to the way she felt about them?

 

“The funny thing is, he’s so much less jealous now that we’re together,” Nora remarked. “He knows we’ll be together forever. But back then…well you remember how he was. That day definitely wasn’t the first time that Billy had felt threatened by someone else in my life. But it was different that day. I just knew it was different. Sensed it. That moment is etched in my mind, but it’s meaningless. What happened would have happened no matter what. It would have been a different day, a different random guy. Or me in his position and he in mine. But it would’ve been, no matter what. We were already more than what we thought we were. It wasn’t happening, or about to happen. It just… _was_.”

 

Phoebe had meant to make a thoughtful study of Nora’s answers but all she could think about was the longing she felt. Nora had opened a wound in her.

 

*/*/*

 

Billy found a place in the lounge freezer for the rest of the cake, and seemed much serene once he knew he was able to save it.

 

“Why don’t you show me around campus,” Max suggested awkwardly. Starting a conversation of this magnitude and intensity was not easy. Maybe he didn’t know how to talk to Billy.

 

“Didn’t you go here?”

 

Fair point. “Right. I guess we’ll forego the tour.”

 

They were back to sitting on the beds, opposite each other. Billy scratched his head, and glanced out the window. Max cleared his throat, and shifted his position. For at least 30 seconds they listened to Dr. Colosso snoring.

 

 

Then Max jumped up to his feet. “Screw it. I’m going to level with you, bro: Phoebe’s worried about this thing you’ve got with Nora. She wants me to talk to you about it.”

 

“Well, it’s not really Phoebe’s business.”

 

Max raised his eyebrows, impressed. “Burn! I wish she had been here to hear that.”

 

Billy shrugged, which wasn’t like him. And this was when Max finally noticed that Billy was actually terrified.

 

He sighed, and sat down next to his brother on the other twin bed. “Here’s the thing. Phoebe loves you. Both of you. And I guess I do too, whatever. And when you love somebody, you make their business your business. You’re there for them when they need you, even if they don’t think they need you. So that’s what Phoebe is trying to do. Now, me, I get it. You love Nora. You always have. It’s going to be messy, but in and of itself it doesn’t have to be some huge complicated thing. But Phoebe’s a worrier. She’s thinking about every tiny possible thing that could be bad or go bad. So you’ve got to convince me that this thing is more right than wrong, so I can tell that to Phoebe and get her off your back. Which is what I want to do.”

 

Billy nodded in grudging agreement, relaxing a little.

 

“I know how close you and Nora have always been. But you know you don’t have to give up your friendship with her just because you’re with someone else, right? You two can still be close while dating and/or marrying other people.”

 

Billy pondered this. “Can we still be best friends and live together and sleep together while dating other people?”

 

Max bit his lip. “Well, it’s frowned upon.”

 

Billy nodded, as if this was what he had suspected.

 

“All I’m saying is, there are other fish in the sea,” Max continued to prod.

 

“You mean like Chloe?” he asked listlessly.  

 

“What? No. Billy, you know you don’t have to select a girlfriend from within our family, right? You _do_ know that, don’t you?”

 

“Don’t worry, I’m not interested in Phoebe. I wouldn’t do that to you.”

 

Max froze. “What do you mean?”

 

“You know what I mean.”

 

“No, Billy. As usual, I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

 

Billy appeared to be waiting for Max to admit to something. Max shook his head and brought the conversation back on topic: “I saw a red-haired girl out in the hallway. What about her? No offense to Nora, but this chick was hotter.”

 

But Billy didn’t really see the world in terms of hotter or smarter or funnier or nicer or doesn’t-shoot-you-with-lasers. There seemed to be only two qualities a woman might have – the quality of being Nora, or the quality of not being Nora. And the red-headed girl’s not-Nora-ness was apparently a major turn-off for Billy. His responses to both of Max’s selling points - “She’s hot, and she’s not your sister” - were the equivalent of “I suppose that’s factually correct.”

 

“But could you ever imagine yourself with anyone else?” Max pressed.

 

“I don’t want anyone else, Max!”

 

Max gave up on enticing Billy away from Nora – he was not to be enticed. Phoebe had been worried that Nora had manipulated Billy into it, but the only thing Max was worried about now was how co-dependent the two of them were. “If Nora left your for someone else, what would you do,” Max posed carefully.  He couldn’t figure out a segue so he just went for it.

 

“What? Why are you asking me that?” Billy demanded fiercely. In a flash Billy had Max pinned down, his hands around his brother’s throat. “What do you know?” He shook Max’s head a few times. “WHAT DO YOU KNOW???!!!”

 

(He probably should have worked harder on the segue.)

 

“Nothing! Nothing! I swear! There’s nothing!”

 

Billy held on for a moment, and then released him. Max coughed a few times and rubbed his neck. “Billy!”

 

“Sorry.”

 

“No, that hurt a lot. Say it again!”

 

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry!”

 

Max sighed. “See, now this is exactly why I was asking. You can’t turn into some maniac if you lose her. Couples break up. People die. People move on. You can’t become so consumed by just one person that you can’t function without them. Because before you know it they’re out of reach, and you’re sitting alone on the floor in an empty apartment in Metroburg chugging bottom shelf vodka.”

 

Billy gaped at him. “What?”

 

“Never mind. Point is, just promise me that if you have to make do without Nora, that you actually will make do.”

 

Billy’s brow furrowed in thought. “I don’t want to make a promise I can’t keep.”

 

“So keep it, then.”

 

“You want me to say that I’ll be OK if I lose Nora? I can’t say that. I definitely won’t be OK.”

 

“Well at least you’re not just telling me what I want to hear. Look, just don’t kill anybody, OK? Yourself included. That’s all I’m asking.”

 

“OK. I can promise that. I promise.”

 

“Good.”

 

“Do you want me to help you with _your_ thing?” Billy asked, inclining his head.

 

Max inhaled sharply. “Billy, there’s no _thing_ , except for the obvious thing: living in my parent’s basement falls a little short of original aspirations.”

 

“OK,” Billy said slowly, humoring him. “But if you ever need someone to talk to, and you don’t want to talk to Dr. Colosso, then I’m your guy.”

 

Max was more than a little wary of what Billy was hinting at, but he was also more than a little touched. He punched his brother lightly in the shoulder. “How about you tell me about your first kiss with Nora.”

 

Billy remembered their first kiss quite well, even though - as Billy and Nora had tried to intimate to Max and Phoebe – it did not mark a fundamental change in their relationship. It took place not long after he had turned 14 – the tail end of 8th grade. Nora called him into her room, and she told him to kiss her. She had looked so pretty. She had been wearing a purple bow - light purple, like lavender. And her dress had splashes of the same color, mixed with other pastels. She told him to kiss her and he did. 

 

*/*/*

 

“I sometimes wonder how long it would have taken him to kiss me on his own,” Nora mused above the metal clacking of her sliding dresses around on the rack. “A part of me would like to know. But I’m glad I didn’t wait.”

 

Nora remembered Billy at 14 well. He hadn’t sprouted yet, which was normal (though he was still tall for his age), but was beginning to take on the features of a young man rather than boy. He was popular with the girls at school - he could make them laugh, so they liked him. (They didn’t always realize he wasn’t joking.) And they admired his looks, which were, Nora had come to find, admirable. His face developed an intensity about it, and while his brain and heart still operated with the same muddled naiveté there had been something new in his eyes. He could look at you like he thought you were without flaw. He could look at you like he wanted to give you everything you needed and desired.

 

For her part, Nora had been developing early, as she had always assumed she would. She had skipped 6th grade but her body was even more ambitious. Though only 12 then, with make-up, the right outfit, and properly coiffed hair she could pass for mid-teens. All the usual things began to happen, but more than anything it was looking at Billy that told her she was maturing. That made her _feel_ it. She knew what she felt was the beginning of that secret, forbidden adult thing. That thing that made them all crazy.

 

She called him into her room. The way she was going about it, she didn’t expect the kiss to be magical. But there _was_ something magical about the way he stared at her from the doorway, while she stood waiting against the opposite wall, bathed in the sunlight coming through the window.

 

“Lock the door,” she instructed.

 

He stepped inside, shut the door behind him, and turned the knob lock.

 

“Lower the blinds.”

 

Billy crossed the room and brought the blinds down, never seeming to take his eyes off of her. He obeyed without questioning. He didn’t even seem to find it curious.

 

“Now kiss me,” she whispered.

 

And he did.

 

She had been expecting something short and tentative, but he kissed her the way he had seen actors kiss in the movies - firmly and protractedly. Courteously aggressive.  There had been a significant height difference between them then (there still was), and she felt like she was falling when he tipped her head back. But one of his hands was on her lower back and the other resting on her waist, both supportive but light.

 

They stared at each other when he pulled away.

 

“Nora…” he began. But he never said anything else. There wasn’t really anything to say.

 

“It was the most natural thing in the world,” Nora said to Phoebe. “We took pleasure where we found it, just like everyone else does.”

 

*/*/*

 

Billy felt like it was a good sign that Max was enraptured by the narrative.

 

“You’re not going to blackmail us, are you?” Billy ventured anxiously.

 

“That does sound like me, doesn’t it?” Max mused, frowning. “I suppose it’s a good thing that you don’t have anything I want.”

 

Billy smiled.

 

Max reluctantly smiled back.

 

“Oh, we still have to get you a costume!” Billy suddenly remembered. He rose and went over to the closet, pulling out a (fake) tuxedo. “This is mine.”

 

Hanging in front was a narrow dark-green-scaled mask – the familiar visage of the villain the Dark Dragon. The black-lined eyeholes and twisted grin gave the face an inhuman and powerful menace; a replica of his infamous venom gun reminding Max why the city found him so alarming. Max took a deep breath when he saw it, and he regarded the mask with apprehension. “You’re dressing up as a supervillain?”

 

“In town it’s the most popular masked costume for men this year. Nora is Ms. Marvelous, the most popular one for women. We’re trying to be as anonymous as possible.”

 

It took Max a minute, but then he realized what his brother was getting at, because he didn’t think they were planning a heist: “So you can be out together like a couple but no one will know it’s you.”

 

Billy nodded nonchalantly.   

 

“Doesn’t that bother you, that you can’t ever be a normal couple?”

 

“Not really. We’ve had to keep secrets our entire lives. I’m used to it, I guess. Our lives were never going to be conventional. Sure, it’s inconvenient. But it’s not a reason not to be together.”

 

Max regarded his brother thoughtfully. Was it possible that he felt admiration for him? “Billy, I never thought I would say this, but I’m respecting the hell outta you right now.”

 

Billy regarded him skeptically. “I don’t believe you.”

 

“No, I mean it. And I’m sorry about how Phoebe reacted earlier. She was wrong. Be with the one you love…yeah, I think you two have got it right.”

 

“I’m surprised you’re saying something nice to me right now, but I’m not surprised that you’re sympathetic. I was sort of expecting that you would be, if you ever found out.”

 

Max felt Billy’s eyes drilling into him. He couldn’t pretend like he didn’t know what Billy meant, though how Billy knew he couldn’t guess. “I’d prefer it if you didn’t say anything more about that.”

 

“Fine. Anyway, it’s time for you to stop dodging the matter at hand: your costume.”

 

Max groaned. “I can’t believe I have to dress up and go to some frosh party.”

 

“Dressing up for Halloween is not un-cool. It’s one of the coolest things there is!”

 

Max shook his head: same old Billy.  “Fine, fine, I’ll wear a costume if you’ll stop talking about how great it is. But I don’t have any money. The credit card companies took it all. Along with my Benz.”

 

Billy laughed.

 

“What?” Max asked.

 

“Wasn’t that a joke?”

 

“No.” He wiped a fake tear. “I never joke about the Benz.”

 

“No, I mean you were going to _pay_ for it?”

 

“You weren’t?”

 

“Well, I wouldn’t normally steal. I’m a hero! But I figured you would insist,” Billy reasoned.

 

Max sighed uncomfortably. “I’d actually prefer if you didn’t.”

 

“I don’t understand.”

 

“I just-I’d rather not be part of a crime tonight.”

 

“OK…”Billy smiled. “We’ll borrow. I’ll put it right back after the party. They won’t even miss it.”

 

Max acquiesced, still hesitant: “Well, all right, I guess.”

 

“So…what do you want to be? A zombie? A vampire? A devil? Or you could be the Dark Dragon too!”

 

“Uh, no. I think, maybe… Well, do you think you could find an _Elfstar_ costume? Lord Jayesen?”

 

“Now you’re joking?”

 

Max cleared his throat frustratedly. “No. That’s not a joke either.”

 

“Is he the bad guy from _Elfstar_?”

 

“No.” Max shifted uncomfortably. “He’s one of the protagonists.”

 

“I don’t understand. You want to dress up as something that doesn’t kill people or ruin lives? Is this an ironic thing? Nora tells me I don’t understand irony very well.”

 

“It’s not ironic. And it’s not a joke. I’m just…doing something different this year, and I really like _Elfstar_ , OK? Lord Jayesen’s a badass.”

 

“OK,” Billy responded, unconvinced.

 

He took a deep breath, and then in the blink of an eye was gone. It took him longer than usual, but it was less than 30 seconds before he was back again, carrying an expensive retail replica of Lord Jayesen’s outfit, complete with red wig and bow-and-arrow. He held it up for Max to examine.

 

“Nice.”

 

*/*/*

 

Phoebe felt a gust of wind and in the corner of her eye caught sight of a blue blur. It was already gone before she had a chance to register it.

 

“Was that Billy?” she asked, turning around in circles, trying to find Nora.

 

Nora laughed and touched her fingers to her lips. “Yeah, it was.” Her hair was blown out, her parting rearranged from the wind.

 

Phoebe couldn’t help it: she sighed, and whispered, “How romantic.”

 

*/*/*

 

The four siblings met up again for dinner at the local gourmet pizza place, well-known to all the campus-dwelling students as being too expensive for their poor little budgets, and too small to seat their large groups. It wasn’t the fanciest dinner Nora might have had on her big 1-8, but it was certainly an improvement over Mrs. Wong’s Pizza Palace. Nora didn’t mind. She had forgotten how relaxing it was to be with her family after months of dealing with the social stress of college. And now that Max and Phoebe knew their secret, she could really be herself like she hadn’t been able to be in years. It had not been her choice to tell them, but so far it had worked out for the better. Max and Phoebe finding out had been a huge hurdle, and she and Billy had made it to the other side.

 

Billy and Nora were so alleviatedly lively that others in the tiny hole-in-the-wall restaurant were giving them dirty looks over their raucous laughter. Tensions had not eased between Max and Phoebe, but their younger siblings were acting as an effective conduit for extracting information. Phoebe learned more about Max’s Metroburg life and work at Sidious Tech during that dinner conversation than in all the days they had been home together. He was as reluctant to talk about it as before, but he couldn’t escape the table, and between the three of them they didn’t allow him to change the subject.

 

“Did you ever meet Sarkany Maldeck?” Nora asked. “That guy gives me the creeps. He did this press conference about the recall SidTec had to do on that doohickey-“

 

“The Neural Driver,” Max interrupted, shamefully knowledgeable.

 

“Right. Didn’t it cause cancer or something?”

 

“Brain aneurisms,” he corrected reluctantly.

 

“Right. Well, he didn’t blink once. The whole press conference, I swear. And he had like this creepy crooked smile while he was trying to make it seem like everything was OK when really people were dying. It was like he didn’t even care, and he couldn’t hide it. His eyes gave it all away. And it seems he may not even face any charges for this SEC scandal. Figures. He’s sort of hot, though. For an older guy.”

 

Phoebe and Max both looked to Billy to see if his jealousy would flare, but he seemed to agree more than anything.

 

“Well I’ve always suspected everyone who worked there was a villain,” Phoebe teased, smiling at Max. She had given him a pretty hard time when he took the job there. But Max didn’t smile back. He was staring at his plate, a single edge of crust revealing how little he had actually eaten.

 

It wasn’t his only strange behavior since they had entered the parlor; he had also subtly extinguished their centerpiece candles with a breath of ice – Phoebe only saw because she had been watching him stare at them a second earlier.

 

“Am I the exception or the rule?” Max challenged with hostility, turning towards Phoebe. They were sitting boy-girl-boy-girl (or brother-sister-brother-sister), and Phoebe hadn’t realized how close they really were at the cramped table until she and Max were facing each other. Billy and Nora were excessively tight on purpose, leaving a little extra room on each side of the twins, but they hadn’t taken advantage of it and Phoebe was suddenly acutely aware of the fact. The coldness with which Max was treating her – which had only gotten worse on this trip - was making her self-conscious about every little thing – it was driving her mad to be constantly thinking instead of just being and doing.

 

She wasn’t sure how to answer him. But he seemed to think better of the question and he swiveled away from her. “I’d like to be a CEO someday,” Max remarked. “Mr. Maldeck hardly spent any time in the office while I was there. I…only met him a couple of times. When he got remarried he took an entire month off for the honeymoon. As far as I can tell, all CEOs do is make money and tell the people that work for them to do better and work harder. I could do that.”

 

“I could do that too,” Nora echoed. “Maybe I should be a business major. Fighting crime certainly doesn’t pay like it should.”

 

“What did Ms. Marvelous do?” Billy asked.

 

Phoebe squirmed in her seat.

 

“What? Were you sworn to secrecy?” Nora asked. “Surely you can tell us. Maybe not Max, but the rest of us.”

 

“The thing is…I don’t know. I don’t even know her real name.”

 

Max’s eyes popped. “All that time you spent working with her and you don’t even know who she really is?”

 

Phoebe shrugged. “She doesn’t ever tell anyone. I guess that’s the way the professionals do it.” Of course, privately, Phoebe did think it very odd that Ms. Marvelous wouldn’t even tell her first name to her sidekick and protégée. She decided not to let it bother her, though. There was no question that Ms. Marvelous cared about her and trusted her; she was just trying to protect her new family.

 

“Did she ever take her mask off in front of you?” Billy asked.

 

“Yes, I did get to see her without her mask.”

 

“I bet she’s pretty,” he replied.

 

Nora was the one who got jealous. She turned sharply to look at her brother and she narrowed her eyes. He would have gotten lasered if a waitress hadn’t come by just then to bring them more breadsticks.

 

Phoebe nodded as she picked up a fresh, warm breadstick and began gnawing on it. “She’s a knockout.”

 

“Did Nora tell you she’s dressing up as your precious Ms. Marvelous for the party tonight,” Max asked.

 

“She did. I can’t wait to examine the outfit for accuracy. Nora’s just the right height and has the same hair, too, so I think she’s going to look great. I’m so glad that people are still dressing up as her, even though she retired. And I’m glad they’re not holding the St. Gabriel’s fire against-“

 

Max cut her off. “I’m surprised you’re not dressing up as her, too.”

 

Phoebe was picking something up in his tone again, but she didn’t know what to make of it. What could Max have against Ms. Marvelous? “Actually, I found a great costume.” Phoebe smiled at him. “I think you’re going to like it.”

 

Max chewed on the corner of his lip. “Really?”

 

Billy sat up excitedly. “Max is going to be-“

 

Max clamped his hand down over Billy’s mouth to prevent him from finishing the sentence. “You’ll see,” he said to Phoebe.

 

“Well, how about we split up again and meet at the party, so we won’t see each other until we’re ready. It’ll be fun.”

 

“Nora and I have already worn our costumes,” Billy said. “We’ve worn them a lot.” He grinned at Nora.

 

Max and Phoebe both covered their ears and began to groan.

 

“Billy!” Phoebe scolded. “We don’t want to hear about that stuff!”

 

And it was more than a little weird to picture Ms. Marvelous and the Dark Dragon going at it.


	4. Wow

Max had to swallow his words from earlier: the lame freshman party was actually a kick-ass warehouse gala funded by all the frats in the area, and it seemed like the entire student bodies of at least three universities were there. Billy had called it with his costume – with his mask on he could have been anyone, and the party was full of Dark Dragons.

 

Max felt undignified as Lord Jayesen, his prosthetic elf ears poking up through the choppy (and itchy) orange wig. But he smiled whenever he caught his reflection, reminded of the game. (To only dress up as a hero wasn’t much of a change, but it was still a relief to him after what had happened.) And the mood of the party was accepting - only half the partygoers were in sexy or traditionally-Halloween-y costumes. When he passed a guy dressed up as a toaster he felt even better about his choice.

 

Max saw Nora first, a vision in red and gold. She was anonymous enough behind Ms. Marvelous’ trademark ornate half-face mask, her standard brown hair unstyled and down. But Max could recognize his own sister, even in this crowd. Her shimmering gold cape fluttered behind her as she walked over towards them, strutting the hell out of the crimson suit. Phoebe came up behind her, and Max felt it like a punch when he saw what she was wearing: a Sister Amarthina costume. They had both had the same idea.

 

It was ridiculous that he felt so overwhelmed – they had only played the game together within the past week. It wasn’t a nostalgic memory that reached back into their childhood, like “Hips Don’t Lie”. (That stupid ringtone he just couldn’t bring himself to change.) But there was something about knowing they were making new memories together that made his heart swell up.

 

 _Dressed to match, what a twin thing to do_ , Phoebe’s eyes seemed to say as she smiled at him, half-warm and half-amused, and a little of something else too. The nuns of the Lothine order, like Amarthina, wore white togas with gold bangles, their hair piled tightly atop their heads, held up by blue ribbons. It was…a good look on her.

 

“Wow,” Billy commented, taking the words right out of Max’s mouth. Max wasn’t sure which of their sisters he was talking about, but in either case he agreed.

 

Max peeked to his side to see if Billy had noticed him staring at Phoebe, but of course Billy only had eyes for Nora as she approached them with a gait only slightly more subtle than that of a model on the catwalk. Max's gaze snapped right back to his twin despite his weak attempt at resistance.

 

At least to himself he had never bothered trying to deny that Phoebe was pretty, though it was the very last thing he ever would have said to her face (even now, when he should be mature enough to be able to do it). He had always thought her pretty - even when they were younger and it was infuriating to concede she had any positive qualities and he genuinely found her annoying most if the time. (Though, not always…)

 

And then, recently – as much as it felt like a lifetime ago for all that had changed for him - he had realized that she was more than pretty. She was stunning. Radiant even. (And he wanted to punch himself for even knowing that word.) At least to him she was - with her vibrant eyes; and mass of shiny, soft hair; and her, to be quite frank, adorable nose. She was radiant, and he had never noticed until…

 

But tonight she was breathtaking.

 

The reasoning he had used for so long - _Whatever, so she’s pretty. So what? Pretty girls sometimes have brothers. I just happen to be one of them. Those brothers aren’t blind. They can’t go around not noticing that facts are facts. It doesn’t matter!_ \- had never worked and especially wasn’t working now.

 

And how troubling that all was to him seemed to be escalating as well. He hadn't thought it could get any worse, but apparently it still could. Billy and Nora weren’t helping, either: they had already sprung back to each other like attracted magnets.

 

He tried again to look away, but again he wasn’t able.

 

Phoebe followed Nora over and the four of them found themselves in a huddle.

 

“It’s amazing, she looks just like her,” Phoebe observed for the boys’ benefit, looking over Nora with approval. Ms. Marvelous’ suit was made of finer material but other than that the costume was impressively identical.  

 

Max made no remarks about Phoebe’s costume and she made none about his, as if there were an implicit agreement that nothing should be said. Nora had no such qualms. She turned to Max: “What the hell are you supposed to be?”

 

He scowled. “It’s from _Elfstar_.”

 

“Elfster?”

 

“ _Elfstar_ ,” Phoebe corrected, a little defensively. “Like mine is. Remember, I told you? It’s a video game. A very famous video game.”

 

Nora nodded, uninterested. “Let’s dance, Billy.”

 

She stuck her hand straight up into the air and he took it and spun her out onto the floor.

 

Anyone observing Phoebe and Max could have deduced from their body language how uncomfortable they were to be left alone together, but their comfort only declined further as they spotted another Lord Jayesen and Sister Amarthina in the opposite corner…sucking each other’s faces off.

 

“That’s in direct violation of the Lothine code,” Phoebe reproached after one too many moments of silence, when it became apparent that they were both watching the couple, hopelessly transfixed.

 

Max smiled. “Amarthina has been known to break the rules once or twice.”

 

“I suppose if she had a good reason to break a rule, she might,” Phoebe conceded. “But not for a dalliance.”

 

“I don’t think anyone would _dally_ with Sister Amarthina.”

 

Silence resumed, and Phoebe took the opportunity of the second lull to approach the subject of Billy and Nora: “So, what was the impression you got from Billy?”

 

She stepped closer to him to be heard, and Max retreated from her, to her consternation. “Exactly what I expected: he’s bananas for the girl.”

 

“Did he tell you about how it all started?”

 

Max and Phoebe’s eyes collided as they both remembered the curiously erotic tale of Billy and Nora’s first kiss. The eye contact lasted for a little too long, and they both turned away suddenly.

 

Their gazes naturally drifted to the dance floor where Billy and Nora were dancing together. An upbeat song with benign lyrics blasted through the impressive speaker system. A few of the dancers were grinding – Billy and Nora’s movements were tame by comparison, innocent, silly even – but they were so intensely _together_. So intent on each other.

 

Billy twirled Nora a couple of times and she doubled over laughing.

 

“It’s so much worse than I thought,” Phoebe brooded. “They’re in love.”

 

“Isn’t that a good thing?” Max remarked, his tone cryptic.

 

“It is definitely not a good thing, Max! I was hoping it might fizzle out. That they were just being dramatic, like teenagers are, with all their talk of ‘always’ and ‘forever’. But it’s…”

 

“Real?” he finished for her, growing heated. “You thought Billy and Nora were just going to ‘fizzle out’? That’s ridiculous. This might not last forever, but if it ends, it’s not going to just ‘fizzle out’.”

 

“Don’t you see? That’s exactly what I’ve been worried about all along. In addition to a host of other things.”

 

“They’re happy. Why can’t you just be happy for them?”

 

“Because they’re not thinking. I have to think for them.”

 

“Where was this grand inquisition when I-“ Max cut off abruptly.

 

Phoebe furrowed her brow, utterly bewildered. “When you what?”

 

“Nothing. Never mind.”

 

“Max?” She laid her palm on his shoulder but he shook it off instantly and stepped back.  

 

Impatiently, she put her hands on her hips. “Is there something that you want to say to me? Why don’t you just say it?” she yelled, half in anger, half because of the loud music. She had had enough of this - enough of being frozen out by him, enough of not understanding what was going on in his head.

 

He didn’t react.

 

“What could you possibly be angry at _me_ for? You’re the one who is always doing bad things. And we’ve barely seen each other! I just don’t understand.”

 

She saw a spark of something in his eyes. She had hit on something. But still he didn’t reply.

 

She had to claw at him with all she had: “We weren’t like Billy and Nora, but we’ve always gotten along _in our own way_. I can tell we did, because we don’t now. It’s different, and it’s terrible. This isn’t us!” She shrugged sadly, a sorrowful bewilderment decorating her face, a soft pleading in her voice. “I want my twin back.”

 

For the first time in weeks Max dropped all of his pretenses and she felt like she was seeing his raw trueness, that real self he hid from everyone. But it was still cowering in his eyes. He took a deep uncomfortable breath, but said nothing. Unknown sentences faltered on his lips, but he couldn’t seem to be able to articulate what he wanted to say. Then he spoke, but the music was too loud – a new song, a total cacophony - and she couldn’t hear. She shook her head apologetically, and pointed at the speakers.

 

He shook his head in frustration, then slipped an arm around her back and yanked her into him.

 

Breathless with surprise, she tried to recall the last time they had been this close. She wanted to keep staring at him, but he brought his lips around to her ears. “I don’t know how to say it,” he began. “I’m not very good at this.”

 

Her heart was battering, like it wanted out of her. He still hadn’t let go.

 

She couldn’t find the right words to encourage him. She kept trying to think of them, but she couldn’t concentrate. She couldn’t think about anything but his hands. His hand on her back, flush against the small of her back. And his other hand, where was his other hand? It was hanging low at his side but it kept tickling her thigh by accident. She swept it up in hers and interlocked their fingers.

 

“Max, tell me,” she said. “You can tell me. _Please tell me_.”

 

“I want to,” he said softly, not looking her in the eyes.

 

And he might have, if they hadn’t been rushed by a large, excited group that had just entered the party. The force of the assault wrenched them apart. Phoebe glanced over at Billy and Nora, who were staring at them. Had they been watching?

 

Not that there had been anything to see.

 

Phoebe turned back to look at Max but he was gone.

 

*/*/*

 

“Phoebe’s still not sure,” Nora said as Billy took her into his arms for a slow song.

 

“They were freaked out, but not grossed out. I think we’re OK. Phoebe just needs time to get used to the idea.”

 

“And Max is with us?” Nora asked.

 

“Yeah, I think so. He ought to be.”

 

“I know what you think, Billy, and you know I don’t disagree, but I wish you wouldn’t encourage it. How do you think Mom and Dad are going to deal with just one set of us together? Unresolved tension is one thing, but if they’re a _couple_ …”

 

Billy smiled at her. “I’m not sure that’s the right way to look at it. That’s not the way we want them looking at us, is it?”

 

“Billy, you know I don’t like it when you’re noble.”

 

“Sorry. Anyway, I didn’t encourage him. But I think I should. Whatever’s going on between them, don’t you think we should help fix it? They’re in a bad place.”

 

“You’re a meddling nuisance just like Phoebe. It’s none of our business.” She peeked over at her sister, who looked bereft as she stood alone against the wall. “But I suppose we could do something...” She laid her head down on his shoulder. “But not until the song is over.”

 

*/*/*

 

Nora found Max outside, sitting on the edge of the concrete ramp in the back.

 

“You looking for me?” Max asked.

 

“No, I just came out for a cigarette.”

 

“Funny.”

 

The area was swamped with partygoers out for fresh air, and more than two young men held out cigarettes for Nora, but she waved them off. She sat down next to her brother. “I know you don’t like to talk about your feelings,” Nora began. “I don’t either.”

 

“We’re two peas. It’s a good thing we’re not closer in age,” Max replied with a fond smile. “I would have been a bad influence on you.”

 

She smiled back. “Yes, I think you would have. As it was, Billy managed to be a _good_ influence on me. He’s the reason I’m out here, to prod and poke you until something spills out.”

 

Max groaned. “I’m tired of getting the third degree.”

 

“ _You’re_ tired of it? All day Billy and I have put up with being under your microscope, answering questions we would rather not answer, fearing what you might do, who you might tell. Particularly _you_ , Max. Phoebe might be playing therapist or social worker or whatever, but she’ll come through for us. It’s you I don’t trust.”

 

“I’ve earned that.” Max hung his head, and Nora saw genuine regret. “But I’m rooting for you. I really am.”

 

“That’s what Billy believes.”

 

“The only thing that’s got me concerned about what’s between you two is if you move on and leave him behind. Everything else can be weathered, but that would…wreck lives. He’s not going to take it well.”

 

“Like you didn’t take it well with Phoebe?” Nora lifted her eyebrows inquisitively.

 

Max smiled at her, like a savvy and mischievous child caught in a lie. “He’s gonna take it worse.”

 

“No, he’s not. Because it’s not going to happen. It’s been 18 years, and I’m not tired of him yet. He’s not tired of me. What makes you think that’s going to change? I knew what I was taking on, when I allowed this to become what it is. Or, more accurately, when I dove headfirst into it,” she admitted. “I’m not going to leave him. Not ever. Even if I wanted to go, I wouldn’t. I’d stay for him. But I’m never going to want to be apart from him.”

 

Max reached over and rustled the top of her head affectionately. “OK.”

 

She glared at him and rearranged her hair back into place, patting down the new frizz he had created. “Are we going to talk about you now?” she asked.

 

“Sure, we can talk about me. We can talk about how I have nothing to show for my life. How all of my dreams are shattered. How all my hard work at Sidious Tech was for nothing – don’t laugh, I actually did do some work while I was there. We could talk about how I blew all the money I made on fleeting pleasures and meaningless shit that I didn’t even get to keep. And how I’m clueless, and a failure, and lost, and miserable, and…alone.”

 

“Wah-wah.” Nora mockingly rubbed her eyes like a crying baby.

 

Max rolled his eyes. “Haven’t I earned some credit with you by being so cool about you and Billy?”

 

“You earned some big boy credit. Which means I’m going to give it to you straight instead of indulging you.”

 

“I’d prefer to be indulged.”

 

“Wouldn’t we all. Listen, Max: life’s unfair.”

 

Max held up his hand to stop her from the trite lecture. She pushed it back down again, laughing, and continued: “Life’s unfair. And you’re one of the people who likes to make it that way. Sidious Tech was a cesspool, and the world is better off without it.”

 

“Wow, you _are_ giving it to me straight, aren’t you? I missed you, Nora.”

 

She didn’t let him sidetrack her. “You’re better off without it too. You’ve always been enterprising enough to make it on your own. So what’s _really_ bothering you? Because it’s not some junk that was repossessed or some corporate assholes that would have stabbed you in the back eventually anyway.” Nora rose to her feet. “You said ‘lost, miserable, and alone’. You don’t have to be that way. So figure it out. And then do something about it, because that’s the only way that anything will change.” Nora sauntered back inside. She hadn’t been holding a microphone, but somehow she had still dropped one.

 

Max laughed mirthlessly. “Wow.”

 

*/*/*

 

“Did he tell you what was bothering him when you guys were alone this afternoon?” Phoebe asked Billy, after he had dragged her out to the dance floor. She wasn’t in the mood for dancing, but Billy got her imitating some of his moves and before too long she was into it. She wasn’t 100% sure, but at one point the two of them – and only the two of them in a sea of dancers - did something that bore a frightening resemblance to the Macarena with a chicken twist. But somehow costumes and Halloween and being with family made that OK. All the same, she didn’t really want Max to walk back in and see her doing it…

 

“No, he didn’t say…”

 

“Come on, Billy! Don’t be coy: you suspect something! What is it? He was trying to tell me something, but we got interrupted. Do you know what he was trying to tell me?”

 

“I’m not sure I should tell you. I know he wouldn’t want me too.”

 

“Well, does Nora know? If you’ve told her then I don’t see why you can’t tell me too.”

 

“I’ve told her what I think. We tell each other everything.”

 

“Yeah, you guys are perfect. I get it. Why is it something to keep from me specifically?” Phoebe whined: “Tell me!”

 

“I think he’s worried about how you might react. I’d say in the not-too-distant past you reacted rather badly to something very similar,” Billy teased. 

 

Phoebe was about to strangle him. “You seem to find this very amusing.”

 

“Yeah. I do.”

 

Phoebe waited for Billy to say more but he didn’t. She elbowed him. Hard. “Billy, you’ve got to help me. There’s…something _broken_ between us.”

 

“Nora’s putting some pressure on him as we speak. Just promise me that you’ll listen to him.”

 

“Of course I will.”

 

“Just, be chill, OK? Don’t react right away.”

 

“I don’t understand. I-”

 

Billy covered her mouth with his hand. “Just dance, Phoebe.”

 

*/*/*

 

Max did not follow Nora right back in – in fact, it was another 20 minutes before he showed his face – but when he did return he was purposeful and confident. “Let’s dance,” he said to Phoebe as he strolled right past her, snatching her hand and taking it with him. She had to run to catch up, only for him to stop suddenly and encircle her in his arms.

 

For a moment he didn’t speak, they just swayed. And she was too shocked to say anything either.

 

She didn’t know the song. She wondered if the lyrics were romantic, but she couldn’t focus enough to understand them. Most of the couples on the floor – well, the _persons_ (not everyone dancing together was a _couple_ ) – were slow-dancing, but Phoebe still felt like they stood out. She was glad Sister Amarthina wore flats, because with heels she was just the right amount of taller than Max for it to be awkward. As it was they were…nose to nose.

 

“You’re tense,” he commented.

 

“No, I’m not, I’m-“

 

He didn’t allow her to finish, dipping her instead. He pulled her back up rapidly, making her feel handled, which she didn’t mind.  

 

“You can’t partner dance,” she ridiculed.

 

“I’m all right.”

 

“No…” The denial carried no emphasis. It didn’t even end, as if she couldn’t quite finish saying the word because the lie was too untrue. His was an unusual mix of moves but oddly graceful, the confident execution refining the style. One arm he held up, at shoulder level, formal, caging her in. She liked it.  And then there was the other hand on the small of her back again…

 

She hadn’t realized she liked being touched there so much.

 

It made her body hum.

 

“I want to tell you something,” he finally said.

 

“Please, Max, whatever it is, just say it.”


	5. Heroes and Villains

Max pulled her a little closer, which she hadn’t even thought was possible. It wasn’t necessary, either – for once the DJ was playing a song quiet enough that they could hear each other speak. A quiet song, and slow. They were rocking slightly, but so slightly it felt more like they were standing still, standing still in each others’ arms in the middle of the enormous room. She felt like she was on a stage, even surrounded as she was.  

 

She wanted to get lost in the moment, but instead felt hyper aware. She was aware of her awareness, aware of the eyes of everyone in the room, aware of Max’s hands – no, not his hands, his whole body.

 

Was this really so strange? She had danced with Max before. Hadn’t she? Or maybe it hadn’t really been since they were kids. They used to dance together all the time. “Hips Don’t Lie”, by Shakira. (She didn’t know why they liked that song so much, they just _did_.) They would put it on repeat and wear themselves out. And Aunt Carol’s wedding – they weren’t the hired entertainment but they sure did the job. Most of the guests spent their entire time at the reception watching them boogie. Of course most of that dancing just involved holding hands and jumping around. It wasn’t exactly the same as…this.

 

Were they the entertainment once more? Behind Max she could see Billy and Nora watching them intently. Maybe she _was_ on a stage.

 

Perhaps dancing, adult sibling with adult sibling, was only strange if you thought it was strange, like a monster that could only harm you if you were afraid of it. Well, the monster had sliced her open, and she was bleeding out onto the floor. After seeing Billy and Nora dance together that very night, Phoebe couldn’t help but find it _strange_ that she was now in Max’s embrace, swaying.

 

But whatever she was thinking, it was immediately dispelled when she realized that the only reason Max was dancing with her, and dancing so close, was so that he could talk to her without being face-to-face.

 

 _Typical_.

 

Max sighed, and then finally began to speak in earnest: “I...” A false start. He began again: “You’re right. We’ve never been like Billy and Nora. We were never best friends. I made a pest of myself, and you were just one naturally.” He smiled to himself about the dig but never checked her reaction.

 

She pulled back and playfully slapped his cheek; then she reached up and removed his wig. “I can’t take you seriously with this on.” She ran her fingers through his hair a little to fix it. She hadn’t thought anything of it, but the way Max was staring at her it was as if she had slid her hand down his pants. She felt herself blush, and used tucking the wig away in her sack (it was part of the costume – Sister Amarthina needed a place to carry her books and potions) as an excuse to turn her face away.

 

Max molded them back into position and continued as if nothing had happened: “But there was a certain…trust. Built on…intimacy. The intimacy between siblings,” he clarified, though not rushedly. “I’m so scared that once you know, I’ll have lost that trust.”

 

_Know what????_

 

His hand rested on her shoulder. She lifted hers and placed it on top comfortingly. “You’re my brother. You can tell me _anything_.”

 

“No, don’t say that. That’s just going to make it so much worse if you can’t forgive me.”

 

Billy’s words flashed through her mind. Something Max wouldn’t want her to know, but which Billy and Nora had guessed. Something Billy and Nora would be more sympathetic to, something she had freaked out about recently.

 

Well, when she put it like that, it could really one be one thing, couldn’t it?

 

God, she was an idiot.

 

She didn’t know how she felt. Was she hot? Was she cold? Was this fever or chills or both? Her heart was hammering but it had also halted. She was breathing too hard and too little. Was she going to faint? Or cyclone around the warehouse like that Tasmanian devil from _Looney Tunes_? Was she afraid…?

 

Or was she… _excited_?

 

Max couldn’t really have those kinds of feelings for her. He just couldn’t. She was the absolute last girl Max would fall for. Billy and Nora made a kind of sense, were almost – _almost_ – logical, but this? This was insanity. This was…This was a sort of crazy that defied understanding. It defied reason. It defied morality. It defied nature. It defied statistics – how many incestuous children was one family supposed to have, anyway? Not this many.

 

Had she begun spinning like she thought she might? Or was it the room?

 

She was still partly in denial, but she couldn’t ignore that the idea worked like a cipher, flowing back, decoding his every puzzling behavior since he had come home. Since before that, even. It explained why he had avoided her. It explained why he was so introspective and uncommunicative. It explained why he was so bafflingly supportive of Billy and Nora. She thought back on the moments when he had suddenly turned bitter, his silent exchanges with Dr. Colosso. Was there a pattern, a trigger?

 

It was real. It had to be.

 

Oh God. She couldn’t let him. She couldn’t let him do it. It would ruin everything.

 

Wouldn’t it?

 

What had Billy told her? _Listen. Be chill. Don’t react right away._ She could do that…

 

No, no she couldn’t: “Max…Max, maybe you shouldn’t say…”

 

“What?” he asked her. He was distracted by something behind her, some commotion she spied in the periphery of her vision.

 

How could he be distracted during the most important conversation of their lives? This was not the way to tell someone you loved them! They needed privacy, and silence. It should be somewhere beautiful. And he should be paying attention!

 

“Is someone _dying?”_ she demanded acidly.

 

“No, it’s fine,” he answered, missing her tone. “Some guy was bothering Nora, but she left with Billy.”

 

Oh. Well she supposed that wasn’t totally unworthy of his attention.

 

Max wetted his lips nervously. “The truth is, Phoebe, I-I did something bad.”

 

What? _Did something bad?_ That didn’t follow. That didn’t follow at all…

 

“And I could blame it on where I was, and who I was with, but it was me. I went looking for it. What happened – it’s not what I wanted, it’s not even what I thought I wanted. But I deserve the blame. I do.”

 

Her heart sunk. Phoebe dragged her hand off of his and put it on her cheek in shock. It didn’t make any sense. This was no confession of love. She’d been wrong, so wrong. She knew she should be listening to what he was saying, but she felt like she was going to fall to her knees. She should be relieved.

 

But she wasn’t. 

 

How could she have allowed herself to think that Max was in love with her? She really _was_ an idiot. Colossally idiotic. Historically and epically idiotic. A dumb, stupid, asinine idiot of the first order.

 

She had to get away from him, she had to be alone for a minute. She couldn’t be disappointed. She couldn’t be. She couldn’t be. She couldn’t be…

 

Max was still speaking: “I was so wrong. About everything. And now I’ve paid the price.”

 

What was he saying? She had never heard him regret anything in this way. He wouldn’t let her stop him from talking so she could get her bearings. As it was, she was preoccupied by her dizziness, and could not listen.

 

Max stopped speaking suddenly. "What the hell are you doing?" he demanded.

 

Phoebe felt like she was about to lose her pizza-and-bread-stick-and-garden-salad-with-ranch-dressing-dinner in front of Max and the entire warehouse. She didn't know what he was referring to but she had never been more terrified in her life - she felt that somehow he must _know_ what she was thinking, that somehow she had given it away. That somehow he had read the chagrin on her face.

 

But Max had no clue what was going on inside her head and the spectacle that she needed to be worried about had nothing to do with the contents of her stomach: Max was pointing behind her; she turned around slowly to look, and saw, to her horror, that a table right behind her and all of the drinks on top of it were floating mid-air. Naturally, it had not gone unnoticed.

 

"I'm not doing it!" she cried.

 

"Well _I'm_ not doing it," he answered her.

 

“I’m not even pointing. My hand is…” She lifted her hand off of his arm awkwardly, acutely aware of the fact that it had been on his arm, and had been very happy there. “I wasn’t pointing!” She brought her other hand down from her face.

 

He shrugged agitatedly. “Well it’s not me!”

 

Phoebe centered herself, closing her eyes and inhaling deeply. With a thud the table fell, liquid splashing. A small group that had been standing around the table began to clap, impressed by the trick.

 

Phoebe gasped. "Oh my God, it _was_ me."

 

"No shit. What's going on? Why don’t you have control?”

 

"I'm just really upset...about what you're telling me."

 

“I haven’t even told you anything yet!”

 

“Well…it’s very upsetting!”

 

Max was about to push further, but Billy came up beside them and put his hand on Max’s arm. “This isn’t a good time, Billy,” Max said, annoyed.

 

“Billy isn’t here anymore,” an unfamiliar voice said from behind the Dark Dragon mask.  

 

Phoebe had to credit Max for his reflexes – he had removed the unknown man’s mask before Phoebe had fully cogitated the fact that they were in trouble. She noticed some sort of small contraption plugged into the man’s neck.

 

“Drake,” Max greeted, swallowing. He was scared, but not particularly surprised.

 

Phoebe lifted her eyebrows questioning.

 

“Meet Drake Maldeck,” Max answered her.

 

“Am I supposed to know who that is?”

 

“ _Maldeck_ ,” Max emphasized. “As in Sarkany Maldeck. Sidious Tech? His son.”

 

“ _You’re_ the Dark Dragon?” Phoebe gasped.

 

“Not exactly.”

 

In a flash she found herself in a strange room, a concrete holding cell of some kind. (Not much smaller than Nora’s dorm, though.) Max and Drake were next to her. And she couldn’t use her powers. It had felt just like being teleported by Chloe. “He has the same power as Chloe?” Phoebe asked, incredulous.

 

“Not the last time I saw him, he didn’t,” Max remarked, furrowing his brow. He studied the smug Drake with growing alarm. “Call Chloe right now,” Max ordered her urgently.

 

Phoebe scrambled to pull her phone out of her sack. She should have been anxious that Chloe hadn’t called or texted her back all day. She had been too preoccupied to notice. Oh God, Chloe! Little Chloe.

 

“No cellular service,” Drake informed them, overly pleased with himself. “It’s jammed. Like your powers. Max, you should know that!”

 

Phoebe turned to her twin. “What’s going on?”

 

Max sighed heavily. “Where’s my sister?”

 

Drake stepped back into the hallway. “My father knows it was you, Maximus.” He shut the door to their cell and then disappeared.

 

 “What the hell is going on, Max? Where are we? Thank God Billy and Nora left the party.”

 

“If they left the party, it was only because Drake brought them here. The Dark Dragon’s lair. Well, probably. I’ve never been in _here_ before.”

 

“What? You said Nora left with Billy.”

 

“Well, she left with someone dressed like the Dark Dragon. I’m guessing it was actually Drake and I’m guessing he didn’t walk her back to her dorm.”

 

“You think they’re here, too? Another cell?”

 

“Most likely.” His tone was detached by his forehead was a washboard of creases.

 

“Max Thunderman, you tell me what is going on _right now_.”

 

There was a Spartan bench attached to the wall - they sat down side-by-side. Max buried his face in his hands, his elbows holding him up “I’m so ashamed, Phoebe. I’ve made such a mess. I applied to work at Sidious Tech because it was a company known for hiring a lot of villains and inventing a lot of the devices that the big villains use. But I was so naïve. You were so right about that place. Maldeck took notice of me – I sort of forced him to - and eventually let me into his inner circle. He kept promising ‘babes, booze, and Benjamins’, but once we got down to business it was all ‘bombs, bombs, bombs’. I thought it was going to be all fun and games, because I was a stupid kid. But…it wasn’t. He wanted me to prove myself, to prove my loyalty and my ambition. So he told me to set a fire...”

 

Phoebe inhaled sharply. “The St. Gabriel’s fire? Oh, Max.”

 

“He told me no one was going to get hurt. There wasn’t supposed to be anyone in the building. It hadn’t even opened as a hospital yet and it was the middle of the night! But he lied. He knew that electrician and that security guard were in there. And I’m pretty sure he caused the collapse that killed those firemen. It was all to trap me. Blackmail and shame. It’s how he keeps everyone loyal.”

 

Max shook his head despondently. There were tears in his voice. “Those people are dead, and it’s my fault. Because I wanted to be a villain. Because I was an _idiot_. Even though it was just supposed to be an empty building I didn’t want to set the fire. What kind of asshole burns down a children’s hospital? But Maldeck took me under his wing. He said I had _potential_. Evilman didn’t say that, Mayhem didn’t. But Maldeck did. I didn’t want to let him down. He was the Dark Dragon! The bane of Metroburg! I didn’t want to screw up yet another opportunity or embarrass myself in front of another mentor.”

 

Phoebe hadn’t seen him cry – genuinely _cry_ – since he was a little boy, which is exactly what he looked like in that moment. She couldn’t be angry at him when he looked like that. She couldn’t even be disappointed in him, not when she saw how contrite he was.

 

She always figured it was inevitable he would grow up at some point, but she had expected it to come before this. Sure, he could be downright rotten sometimes. Selfish, greedy, mischievous. A prankster, yes. But he wasn’t cruel to be cruel, except playfully. He didn’t hate. When something important was on the line, he always came through. He wasn’t a villain. He was just a bit of an ass.

 

She tried to hug him, but instead he dropped to the floor and put his face into her lap. At first she just lifted her hands awkwardly in confused shock, but eventually she lowered them and began to stroke his hair. He wrapped his arms around one of her legs and buried his face into it. She suspected at first it was another maneuver to avoid being face-to-face but he clung to her so tightly…

 

“I only ever wanted to become a villain because I couldn’t stand to be second best to you. But I’d be lucky to be second best to you. You’re a hero. I’m…nothing.”

 

She didn’t want to move away from that sentiment but she had to know: “But why are they after you? After us?”

 

“Oh, Phoebe, it’s so much worse than you think. After I realized Maldeck lied to me, I called the S.E.C.”

 

“What?”

 

“I’m not a finance expert, but I knew enough to see the SidTec numbers were as crooked as they come. So I turned him and his whole company in. I was so angry – I wanted revenge. Yet another mistake. Of course he realized it was me. That’s why I moved home, to keep an eye on the family. I knew he would come after me. And now he finally has.” He paused for a long time, and then whispered: “I know you’ll never forgive me. I know I’ve lost you forever. I’ve lost everyone.”

 

“After all the things I’ve forgiven you for, you think I’m not going to forgive you when you’re actually sorry for what you did and for who it hurt?

 

Max lifted his head and stared at her.

 

An awareness settled on him suddenly but he didn’t release his grip on her leg.

 

“I can’t believe someone had to die for you to wise up. So yeah, don’t get me wrong, I am furious. But I’m your twin sister.” She shook her head and finished quietly: “You’ll never lose me, Max.”

 

“I _already_ lost you, Phoebe. You had this fantastic life in Metroburg, saving lives with Ms. Marvelous and probably dating baristas and yoga instructors. You didn’t even miss me.”

 

“I didn’t even miss you?” Phoebe was reaching critical levels of outrage. “ _I didn’t even miss you?_ How the hell do you know whether I missed you or not? You were _avoiding_ me! You didn’t call me back. You canceled every time I arranged for us to get together. You sent me away every time I came by your apartment. And you have the _audacity_ to make it seem like _I_ abandoned _you_?” Phoebe shook him off her leg and stood up.

 

The absolute last thing she had been was fine with the fact that she almost never saw him.

 

She could forgive him for the fire but she was going to kill him for this.

 

“I didn’t want you to know what I was doing,” Max explained, still sitting on the floor. “You or Ms. Marvelous. I couldn’t have you thwarting our plans and being busted by my sister really would have hurt my cred. And then I was so ashamed, I couldn’t face you. Even before the fire I knew I was in with the wrong people. I wasn’t strong enough or clever enough to get out of it. And I was too _proud_. I didn’t want you to know I was miserable. People don’t exactly brag about their existential crises, do they? Once I realized that it really was just a phase like everyone had always said, I was so embarrassed, but worse, I didn’t know who I was. I still don’t. And God, Phoebe, you’re not the easiest person to confess to, you know?  I certainly know what Billy and Nora have felt like all day. Perfect Phoebe, darling of the Hero League, apple of our parents’ eyes, always does the right thing, never makes any mistakes. How could I face that? How could I tell you what I had done? But I wanted to. I’ve been trying to. I knew you would be needed to protect the family. I knew I couldn’t do it alone.”

 

“Max, why do you have to feel this rivalry with me? Why can’t we just be a _team_? That’s all I’ve ever wanted.”

 

Was it finally happening? She had always been too ashamed to tell him, but she had always hoped they could be not only on the same side someday, but actually fighting together. That was her dream. The dream she had figured would never happen. The dream she had come home to give up on.

 

It had always been her dream. But she felt it even more after she moved to Metroburg and began working with Ms. Marvelous. She saw her future unfolding before her and it seemed like he wasn’t in it. Why couldn’t he just decide to be good, once and for all, and join her, she had wondered.  They could have even come up with a gimmick, called themselves the Thunder Twins or something. She wouldn’t have minded sharing the credit…most of the time.

 

She had wanted it so badly that it had made it impossible for her to resign it and move forward. It was why she had been so stuck. So… _arrested_.

 

“Why does it have to be annoyingly perfect sister Phoebe? Why can’t it be Phoebe, the sister who always forgives you? Phoebe, the sister who always helps you _if you ask_? Phoebe, the sister who loves you more than anyone?” She hadn’t meant to say that last part, it had just sort of gushed out as part of the rhetoric and now she was blushing and he was staring. She hadn’t realized it was true until she said it, but it _was_ true.  No one loved him more than she did, they couldn’t, and she didn’t love anyone as much as she loved him. It was true. It just was. She sighed. “You could have told _that_ Phoebe, couldn’t you?”

 

He looked down at the cold, cement floor.

 

 “Max, you have it in you to be a hero. A great hero! You’ve always had that potential. And you don’t need someone to tell you that, but I will. I’m saying it right now. Turning Sidious Tech and Maldeck in was the right thing to do. Now the right thing to do is to figure a way out of here, rescue Billy, Nora, and Chloe, and take down the Dark Dragon once and for all. Do I have to give you some kind of cliché speech or are you going to get up right now and help me do it?”

 

Max had a little of his own back - reaching out for the skirt of her toga and using it to wipe his tears and blow his nose. He jumped up. “I’m in.”


	6. Every Day...And Not At All

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I would like to thank everyone who has commented and given kudos, and just everyone who has been reading!!! I really do hope you’ve been enjoying the fic so far. I wanted to do a note right here because this chapter is a slight departure from what the story has been so far. It’s just very plot-heavy, as the end of chapter 5 set it up to be. I didn’t want to write plot, I just wanted to focus on the characters and the relationships, but when I started to expand what Max was going through it just sort of happened, and I couldn’t summarize everything that happened in one paragraph – I don’t think that would have been fair to the story. So I apologize for all of this adventure, which hopefully isn’t too silly, and hopefully it’ll be fun to see Max and Phoebe (and the others as well) in action.

Phoebe paced back and forth in the 6x8 ft. box, while Max fidgeted with the flimsy bow-and-arrow that had come with his costume. His aim had improved, but the effect was tantamount to being hit with a pea. Phoebe knew – he had hit her in the face several times already. “This is impossible,” Max groaned, kicking the wall in frustration and hurting his foot.

 

“We’re more than just our powers,” Phoebe tried to encourage. “’It only takes one spark of the Elfstar!’”

 

That garnered her a slightly amused look. He enjoyed seeing Sister Amarthina delivering one of her lines. And he enjoyed the nostalgia of those sublime gaming days. He and Phoebe been a team in _Elfstar_. That had worked. It had worked _well_. It could work well gain, couldn’t it?

 

“Well my charm and good looks certainly aren’t going to get us out of here,” Max sighed.

 

“Your charm and good looks couldn’t get you out of a parking ticket!”

 

“I do OK. And don’t talk about parking tickets: they remind me of the Benz.”

 

Phoebe rolled her eyes. “Losing that Mercedes was your own fault. I can’t believe you went so far into debt. You could have at least spent your money on the family. You know how much Dad wants an in-ground pool.”

 

“Well, what do you expect? I was lonely and miserable. And I could have kept up with the payments if I had still been working. I would have bought Dad a pool…eventually.”

 

“The fire was only a month ago. What was so bad before that that you fell down this dark hole of materialism?”

 

Max’s mouth hung parted for a moment. He didn’t answer right away, and then said quietly, “Oh you know, this and that.”

 

Phoebe groaned at his evasion. “Come on!” She had just been making conversation to make conversation, but she quickly realized she had hit upon something.

 

Max tapped the wall nervously.

 

Phoebe didn’t know why she was doing this to herself. She had hoped she had moved on from her earlier misconception, but here she was with butterflies again – hanging on his every word, studying every twitch of his face. Apparently she had only been momentarily distracted.

 

 _Butterflies!_ That was how Nora had described it with Billy…

 

Of course Phoebe had had butterflies before - but never with Max. Never with _Max_! And never quite like this. Severe. Overpowering. Devastating. The giddy excitement of a school girl crush, or the anxiety of taking a final exam she hadn’t properly studied for, were not quite like this dreadful but exhilarating unrest.

 

Maybe _that_ “never” was the odd thing, and not this. Maybe _this_ was the natural reaction. That was all she could think as she stared at him. Because he was…beautiful. All of the times she had looked at his face she had only ever seen its familiarity. This was the face she had known since the womb, the face she knew better than her own, the face that even looked like hers in small, wonderful ways. But now she looked at him and saw all of that and something more. And craved something.

 

(She could look past the elf ears. And the fact that he wasn’t Channing Tatum.)

 

All of the sudden Max marched over to the window and peered out. “There’s a guard out there!”

 

“Well that’s not really surprising, is it?” Phoebe retorted, aggravated. They couldn’t get from start to finish of a single conversation, could they?

 

“Don’t you see? If there’s someone out there, then maybe we can get him to open the door. Maldeck didn’t kill us right away – he could have. He wants us for something. I suspect it has to do with how Drake teleported us in here. So we have a slight advantage.”

 

Phoebe smiled at him. “I’m…impressed.” She expected him to make a joke, but he beamed.

 

“One of us could fake being sick. That always works on TV.”

 

“I’m slightly less impressed now.” But then she paused. “Maybe not that, but something else similar.”

 

*/*/*

 

The walls and doors of the cell were so thick that nothing could be heard outside of them when the door was closed, probably a mainstay from before the power-jamming technology to prevent powered prisoners from escaping. No matter how much Max pounded on the door, the guard didn’t seem to hear, but his mad waving when the guard finally walked by again got his attention. Max gestured to him that he had something to say, and the guard left, and returned with Drake.

 

Drake cracked open the door and it slid inwardly by an inch. “Well, what is it, Maximus?”

 

“I know what your father thinks I did it. But I wasn’t the one who turned the company in to the S.E.C. But I do know who did it. And I’ll tell your father who it was, if he promises to let me and my siblings go. I’ve been protecting the mole up until now, but I have to save my family.”

 

Drake considered this. “All right. Might be I believe you. I’ll leave it up to Dad. But as I’m sure you know, lying will carry grave consequences.”

 

Max took a deep breath as he looked back at Phoebe, and then he left with Drake.

 

The hallway was white, sterile, and silent. Max was certain they were in the Dark Dragon’s lair but he had never been to this part of the facility before. (Max had always figured that the lair was somewhere underground in Metroburg, but beyond that he had never been able to guess. The few times he had been invited, he had been blindfolded during the commute.) There were two rows of 6 cells each. Billy and Nora were probably in one of them, maybe even his parents too. Three guards patrolled the prison area, but none of them accompanied Drake and Max as they passed into the hallway and around the corner.

 

Once they entered an empty corridor Max reached over suddenly and yanked the gadget out of Drake’s neck. He and Phoebe had deduced that it most likely connected him to a machine that mimicked Chloe’s power, and Max had recognized its similarities to the ill-fated Neural Driver technology. Max had hoped to be able to install it in himself so he could jump throughout the lair, but looking at the various wires and circuits, he did not think that was possible - it seemed that required more of a surgical operation. However, it was still the right move, because Drake began to seize. It had been hooked into his spinal cord and the crude removal sent him into spasms (and possibly a brain aneurism). As he fell to the ground, with a wince Max kicked him in the head to be sure he would stay down and Drake went out like a light.

 

It took Max a few minutes of wandering to get his bearings, but he eventually entered a familiar part of the compound, and from there he knew exactly where the power inhibitor was. He had seen it before, though never in use. The lab in question was filled with humming machines - Max didn’t know what they were all were, but he guessed none of them were good. He went through the proper procedure of shutting the inhibitor off, hoping that would bypass the alarm, but it required a code he didn’t have. He picked up the chair in the corner and used it to bash the inhibitor until he felt his powers abruptly become unblocked, and then he used his telekinesis and heat breath to wipe out the rest of the tech.

 

The alarm blared, and Max felt like he was in a disco as he ran back to the prison hall amid the flashes of the lights. The guards were on high alert but they were no match for his powers. He threw them, dazed, into a pile, bent their weaponry with a flick of his finger, and then tackled Phoebe’s cell door. It also required a code he didn’t have. Phoebe was on the other side of the small window, staring hopefully at him. He gave her a thumbs up but he was a little worried that someone who was more of a challenge would show up before he could get it open. Destroying the keypad didn’t do the job. Another thing that worked on TV and didn’t work in real life. He couldn’t use his telekinesis because he couldn’t see the interlocking parts and the movements had to be too precise. It was too thick to freeze and shatter.

 

Phoebe was trying to tell him something through the glass. That was easy enough to melt.

 

“Hot then cold, hot then cold,” she yelled through the liquefied window. “Try the walls, not the door. It’ll crack the concrete.” They did it together – careful not to cross streams - and of course she was right. The wall at the side of the door was extremely thick but susceptible to Phoebe’s knowledge of science. Eventually it burst (and fortunately it was not load-bearing).

 

She hugged him after emerging, so tightly he could hardly breathe.

 

“You did it!” she congratulated.

 

“Don’t patronize me.”

 

Several more guards showed up while Max and Phoebe checked the other cells for their other siblings, Phoebe took care of all but one of the minions, adding them to the heap, but threatened the last one until he gave up the codes for the cell doors. (They all carried around special phones that worked over the jamming, and the phones contained lists of all the codes for the various locks in the building. Phoebe got the pass code for the phone and confiscated it for their own use.) Then she froze them all.

 

Billy and Nora had been put into separate cells. Billy was dashing around inside of his and throwing himself against the door with all of his momentum – it was dented but not budging. They freed him first and he pushed right past them, demanding to know where Nora was. In her cell, Nora was making slow progress at melting the door lock with her laser. She poured herself into Billy’s arms as soon as the door – by happy chance still in working order – opened to reveal him. She pored over his face desperately to see if he had been injured, sweeping back his bangs and running her fingers over his neck. Once she saw he was fine she lasered his feet angrily.

 

“Ow!”

 

“That’s for leaving me alone at the party.”

 

“I went to go pee!”

 

Chloe was not in a cell. This troubled Max, but did not surprise him. “We’ll find her,” he reassured the others. Phoebe’s confidence was infectious. He was a hero now – and that meant success, didn’t it? That’s what it always looked like from the other side. He explained briefly to Billy and Nora what was going on: “Dark Dragon’s lair. All my fault. We have to find Chloe.” Nora looked like she wanted to know more, but they were both in gear and ready to go.

 

Phoebe retrieved the two masks that the younger ones had abandoned in their cells. “Put these back on – they might be useful.”

 

The alarm continued to sound, but apparently Maldeck was understaffed - there was hardly anyone in the den of the Dark Dragon and they passed through corridors unnoticed. Even Drake was gone.

 

“The exit!” Phoebe exclaimed as they came upon a bank of elevators. “If we can find out exactly where we are in the city, then I can call in the cavalry.” Max had not been allowed to see these elevators before, but he remembered using them to come and leave while he had been blindfolded. The elevators required another code, which Phoebe was able to get from the guard’s phone. The first one they opened was just an empty shaft that went up and then opened out into the bright night. The second elevator took them up and they found themselves in the charred remains of St. Gabriel’s.

 

“And I thought they burned down a children’s hospital just to be dicks,” Max remarked. “Turns out it was mostly about the property.”

 

Phoebe put in calls to Ms. Marvelous and the Hero League. Under normal circumstances she would want to do the vanquishing all by herself, but she wasn’t going to take any risks with Chloe’s life, and defeating the Dark Dragon was too important to try to do alone. President Kickbutt took her call but couldn’t make any promises about who would be there or when. She had to leave an imploring message for Ms. Marvelous on her “work” phone, since she didn’t answer. But surely the superheroine wouldn’t miss this chance to see her nemesis fall. It just wouldn’t be right if she wasn’t there.

 

Phoebe and Max stared at each other anxiously as the four of them took the elevator back down to the base. Unexpectedly, he took her hand and squeezed it. “You’re getting what you said you wanted: we’re a team.”

 

“I’d feel better about it if Chloe wasn’t in the balance,” she lamented, the smile she tried to muster for him faltering.

 

 “This is all my fault. I’m going to make sure that none of you get hurt.”

 

She didn’t like the sound of that, but before she could say anything, the elevator chimed and the doors slid open. 

 

They sent Billy off to reconnoiter – with his speed he could map out the entire facility before the rest of them reached the end of the hallway. Phoebe pulled his mask down over his face: “With this on, you might actually look like you belong here.”

 

Nora took the lead for the other three of them, diving quickly back into the search, and running down one of the many hallways in the labyrinthine lair, only to herself face-to-face with the Dark Dragon. Well, _a_ Dark Dragon.

 

The three of them froze. He was some 20 paces away, but too close for them to turn and run.

 

“Scarlett?” he asked, his voice confused. Upset even. Phoebe recognized the real Dark Dragon’s voice behind the mask. This wasn’t Drake, this was his father. Ms. Marvelous’ nemesis, the bane of Metroburg. As many times as she had seen the Dark Dragon mask that night at the party, she still found it terrifying. And he was armed with his toxic venom gun. If he chose to use it he could permanently destroy their eyesight, scar their faces, or kill them.

 

 _Scarlett?_ Phoebe had no idea what he was talking about. Was that a code word?

 

“You’re helping them?” he asked, his tone clearly taking on the sound of betrayal.

 

Phoebe stepped forward. She tried to freeze him but she felt her powers suppressed again. The clunky device she spotted hanging around his neck must be a short-range jammer. Seemed a bit like cheating, but it was clever.

 

“Ah, Thunder Girl. I should have known you would cause trouble for me. And Max, I’m very impressed with your escape. Well, partial escape. I had no idea you were so capable.”

 

“Well, you taught me a good lesson about the power of motivation,” Max responded. “You see, when I was working for you, I had none. But since then, I have it in abundance. I’m mostly motivated to take you down. But I can spare some for saving my sister. Where is she?”

 

“I love the costume, Max. Is ‘Elf-Man’ your new Superhero identity?”

 

Max reached up and felt the plastic elf ears that were still attached. He ripped them off and tucked them into Phoebe’s bag. (After all, Billy couldn’t take the costume back without them.) “You shouldn’t have gone after my family, Maldeck. You’re going to regret it.”

 

Nora retreated towards Phoebe a couple of inches and whispered, “Where’s Billy? He should be back by now.”

 

“I understand, Max. Even the worst of us care about our families. I’ve got my _son_ …”  Maldeck’s inflection indicated he knew about Drake’s injuries. “…and my dear new wife.” Another inflection, directed at Nora. “And who wouldn’t love precious, special Chloe. Quite a powerful little lass. Teleportation… I’m so glad you told me about her, Max. Or else I never would have dreamed this big.” He turned back to Nora. “Well, Scarlett?”

 

Nora lifted her mask up onto her head. “Who the hell is Scarlett?”

 

“I am.”

 

The three Thundermans turned around to see a woman in her mid-30’s, not unlike Nora in stature and coloring, coming up from behind them. Phoebe had never seen her without her outfit on, but there was no question that this was Ms. Marvelous as she really was. In her simple black dress and pumps she looked so normal. Beautiful and stylish, but normal. You would never think she could fly or that she used to kick ass professionally. Ms. Marvelous put her hands on her hips and stared down Sarkany Maldeck. “You missed dinner.”

 

Phoebe gasped. Had Ms. Marvelous come to help her, or to help her enemy?

 

The Dark Dragon lifted his mask up and let it fall behind his head. Phoebe was reminded of Nora’s description: his twisted smile; his sociopathic eyes. Disconcertingly attractive. Maldeck shrugged sheepishly. “Busy day.”

 

 “I told you not to touch Phoebe,” Ms. Marvelous said. Or rather, Scarlett. “It was in our pre-nup.”

 

Again, Maldeck shrugged, though not without some timidity. “Well Max here had to be punished.”

 

Nora and Max were totally lost – only Phoebe knew what was going on. Somehow, Ms. Marvelous and the Dark Dragon were married. No, strike that, actually she didn’t know what was going on at all.

 

“Take them to their sister,” Scarlett ordered impatiently. And to Phoebe’s surprise, that’s just what Maldeck did. He led them through several passages until they came into a large medical lab.

 

Chloe was lying on a cot in the middle of a horrifying web of wires and machines. She was unconscious, and pale.

 

Billy was already there, and in the course of aggressive negotiations with a woman in a lab coat. He seemed to be winning - the doctor was scrambling to adjust the settings on one of the machines Chloe was hooked up to. "Unplug her now!" Billy demanded, and it sounded like it wasn't the first time he had said it.

 

Nora ran over and took Chloe's lifeless hand; Max followed after slowly and touched her forehead.

 

 “Jesus, Sark, she’s just a kid,” Scarlett snapped upon seeing Chloe.

 

“She’s alive,” Maldeck defended.

 

The doctor looked at Maldeck helplessly as Billy twisted her arm.

 

“I can’t just let her go,” Maldeck complained to his wife. “She’s the only one who can do this. It’s an extremely rare power. Incredibly useful.”

 

“Sark, I swear to God, you let that girl go right now or you will never see me again. Let them all go.”

 

Maldeck gestured to the woman to liberate Chloe from her cables. “You should all be grateful for this machine, kids. It’s the only reason you’re not already dead. And my wife too, of course,” he added as a lamented afterthought.

 

Scarlett grabbed Phoebe’s arm and pulled her out of the lab and into the hallway where they could speak alone.

 

Phoebe couldn’t restrain herself: “What the _fuck_?”

 

She didn’t know what she expected, but she did not expect Ms. Marvelous to start crying. “I love him, Phoebe” she whispered.

 

“The Dark Dragon? You’re in love with the _Dark Dragon_? You _married_ the Dark Dragon?”

 

“Please don’t judge me too harshly, Phoebe.” She sobbed once. “It happened very suddenly, not long after you came to work with me. Every time I let him touch me I thought of it as a moment of weakness until I finally confronted the truth: I _was_ weak, but I was also in love.”

 

“And he loves you back?” Phoebe asked skeptically.

 

“For a long time I wasn’t sure. He wanted me, but I feared he didn’t really care. But I don’t doubt it now. It’s a real marriage, Phoebe.”

 

“But he’s a villain!”

 

“Sometimes you fall for the wrong person. And you’re too weak to resist. And it screws up your whole life. It screws up everything. This is why I retired. There was no baby – I’m sorry I didn’t tell you the truth. I tried so hard to hide everything from you, from everyone. But I couldn’t be a hero while I loved a villain too much to stop him. It was the fire here at the new hospital. He was behind it, and I knew it. That was when I decided I had to quit. I was a lie. Ms. Marvelous was a lie. But when I heard your message, I knew I had to come. I couldn’t let you pay for my mistakes.”

 

“Well, do you regret it? Do you regret loving him?”

 

“Every day…and not at all.”

 

“He’s a killer, Ms. Marvelous. He has to be stopped. You don’t have to do anything. Just switch off the device that’s blocking our powers – you’re the only one who can get close enough - and Max and I will do the rest.”

 

Phoebe ran back into the room, plucked Nora’s mask from off her head, and brought it out to Ms. Marvelous. She positioned it on her face. “Be _her_ again. Metroburg needs her. I need her.”

 

Scarlett took the mask into her hands and rubbed her thumb over the glittery surface. Then she changed the subject: “So you’ve got Max back?”

 

Phoebe chewed on her lip. “Yes, I think so. Maybe.”

 

“I’m glad, Phoebe.”

 

*/*/*

 

Chloe didn’t wake right away, but the doctor reassured them that she would be fine. Billy scooped her up into his arms and he jerked around in de-powered frustration. Nora put her hand on his arm to calm him, standing slightly in front of him in case she needed to defend him while he held their baby sister.

 

Phoebe looked to Scarlett for some confirmation that she would do what she said she would do. Scarlett nodded at her surreptitiously and Phoebe readied herself. She would freeze him and then let the Hero League decide what they wanted to do with him. But Maldeck seemed to sense that the Thundermans weren’t just going to walk out of there. Whatever his unspoken agreement with his wife was, it didn’t involve allowing his former prisoners to take him down. He whipped out his venom gun and put Phoebe in his crosshairs. She dodged and ducked, neither of which were particularly effective against a liquid. But she didn’t have to, because Max dove in front of her.

 

“Max!” she screamed.

 

But nothing had happened.

 

Max and Phoebe lowered their arms slowly from covering their faces and turned to look at Maldeck. He was shaking the gun, mildly annoyed. He pressed the trigger one more time and the barrel spit out a couple of drops. “Empty again, damn it.” He swiveled to face his wife. “Sorry, Scar. But I can’t just let them hand me over.”

 

Judging by his tone – and his words – he had another trick up his sleeve. He was the Dark Dragon, so of course he did. But they never found out what it was. Scarlett reached over and switched off the mini-inhibitor.

 

It happened almost in slow motion. Scarlett said, “I’m sorry, Phoebe,” and wrapped her arms around her husband, and then, like time was catching up, in the blink of an eye they were gone. She didn’t charge up through the ceiling like their father would have done (Ms. Marvelous never did that, she didn’t have the same tough hide as Thunder Man), but her remarkable speed and agility were sufficient to navigate them down the hallway and skyward up through the elevator shaft before Billy – who pursued after handing Chloe over to Max – could stop them. Nora’s lasers could get incredible distance but they were out of sight by the time she got there, leaving nothing but the full moon.

 

Phoebe was still blinking. Ms. Marvelous had chosen the Dark Dragon… _again_? Was she still a hero? Could she be a hero if she loved a villain? Could she be a hero if she chose him over doing the right thing?

 

Phoebe didn’t really care about that, though. She turned to Max and yanked him into her embrace, Chloe squeezed between them. “You stupid idiot.”

 

“I had to save the princess from the dragon,” he defended as he withdrew. “Well, I had to try, anyway. Figures my grand gesture would be for nothing.”

 

“Well I’m glad it was for nothing.” Phoebe ran her hand along her side to draw attention to her costume. “And a nun, not a princess, remember?”

 

“That’s too bad.”

 

Phoebe’s jaw dropped, but Max had turned his attention to Chloe.


	7. ...But Denial Lost

After setting Chloe down on one of the other medical cots, Max angrily thrashed a few objects in the room, mostly the device that had been used on their baby sister. “We failed. He got away,” he said to Phoebe as he kicked one of the stands, hurting his foot. (Again.) Phoebe was beside Chloe, brushing her cheek with her finger, urging her silently to wake up.

 

“We’re all alive and we’re free. That’s not so bad, is it? Besides, he wouldn’t really be a supervillain unless he survived to menace us another day. I’d hate to think we were captured by someone mediocre.”

 

Max reluctantly agreed, though not without a groan. “I just wish it was over. It’d be one thing if he were only after me – I could handle that - but he’s shown he’ll come after any of you. _All_ of you.”

 

“Ms. Marvelous will make sure he doesn’t come after us.”

 

“How can you be so sure? She did help him escape.”

 

“But she came here to stop him from hurting us. She rescued us. She even rescued us in a way by running off with him – you saw how he was gearing up for something after the venom gun failed – some other weapon. She’s not on his side; she just…can’t bear to lose him.”

 

“Some twist, that. Your boss, my boss. Heroine and villain. Secret lovers…” Max pointed out, his tenor unreadable.

 

“Yeah… Is everyone I know in a secret relationship? I shudder to think who Cherry is secretly dating.”

 

“Probably Principal Bradford,” Max joked.

 

Phoebe laughed so hard and so unexpectedly that she almost choked. “Yeah, she definitely wouldn’t tell me about that.”

 

“Apparently a secret marriage is easier than we thought,” Max remarked, returning to the subject of Ms. Marvelous and the Dark Dragon.

 

“Thought?” she whispered.

 

“Billy and Nora,” he answered quickly.

 

“Oh. Right.”

 

“I’m sorry. About her. Ms. Marvelous, I mean. I guess we’re both coming out of this situation with fallen idols.”

 

“I don’t think of her that way.”

 

Interest flickered in his eyes. “You don’t?”

 

“No.”

 

Max fidgeted, twisting his fingers. “It makes me wonder what would have eventually happened between _us_ if I hadn’t…”

 

“Come around?”

 

“That’s a nice way of putting it. I like that you didn’t include the term ‘manslaughter’.”

 

“I don’t wonder about that,” Phoebe said quietly, answering his earlier comment. “You don’t either. Even pitted against each other, you know I wouldn’t have… _hurt_ you.”

 

“Do I?” He fidgeted more, randomly touching items around the room, but his voice was anything but remote.

 

“Enemies who love each other aren’t really enemies, are they?”

 

Their eyes met.

 

“Now, maybe you would have stopped loving me but I never would have stopped loving you,” she declared softly. “So I don’t wonder. Because I already know I would have saved you. Just like she did. And that’s why I have to forgive her.”

 

Max looked sick. He swallowed. “Phoebe…”

 

He didn’t say anything else.

 

Chloe began to wake. She stirred, and moaned, and then her eyes fluttered open just as Nora and Billy returned. She was still weak, but refused to go to the hospital, which was a relief to her older siblings, since they knew how much easier it would be on all of them to just keep their parents out of the loop.

 

“Why are you all dressed up?” she asked, sitting up a little.

 

The others laughed. “It was a Halloween party,” Phoebe informed her. “Feels like a long time ago, now.”

 

“I want to go to the party!” Chloe insisted.

 

The others all exchanged looks. They were thinking about bed (especially Billy and Nora, who wanted nothing more than to curl up with each other after what they had been through) and Phoebe had been planning on waiting for the Hero League. But the excited look on Chloe’s face was impossible to deny. Each sibling gave Chloe a piece of their costume so she wouldn’t feel left out, which made them all think back to the kooky way she used to dress when she was little.

 

“She actually looks pretty cute in those ears,” Max laughed, pinching the elf ear he had attached to her.

 

“But even Chloe couldn’t pull of that wig,” Phoebe replied. “Do you want it back?”

 

“Please no.”

 

Phoebe gave over her gold bangles to Chloe, Nora her cape, and Billy his fake venom gun, and then they had a competition to see who could come up with the best explanation for what she was.  

 

Phoebe typed up a quick text outlining what had happened and sent it to Kickbutt (which she knew wouldn’t go over too well, but that didn’t matter to her at this particular moment), and then they all joined hands with Chloe and teleported with her back to Nora’s dorm.

 

Max changed back into his regular clothes before they left again for the party. It gave Phoebe a bit of a thrill to see him in his leather jacket once more, even though he seemed uncomfortable in it, as if he were in a different kind of costume. She reached over and adjusted the collar for him encouragingly.

 

And that was it, really. The moment when denial just couldn't hack it anymore. Denial tried but denial lost. Because suddenly she was picturing him wearing the jacket without a shirt - and the image pleased her, it really pleased her - and then the pants were gone too. At that point the jacket was more of a hindrance than anything so off with it. And then all she had was Max Thunderman in his…thunderwear. A setting formed around him – their home – and in less than five seconds it had become a full-fledged sexual fantasy.

 

Her disappointment, and her butterflies, and the thrill of contact, and the nagging sense that what she had always felt was missing was staring her right in the face could all be denied and explained away. But this couldn’t.

 

She wanted to probe it further…but she fled it. And just in time, too, because everyone was staring at her. Had someone asked her a question? “Uh…What did you say?”

 

Max studied her. “I asked if you were ready to go.”

 

*/*/*

 

Phoebe, Max, and Chloe (and Dr. Colosso, who had woken from his nap and was hidden away in Phoebe’s sack) were halfway to the party before they realized that Billy and Nora hadn’t followed. Phoebe and Max exchanged a look – they knew exactly where Billy and Nora were and what they were doing. But of course it wasn’t hard for Billy to catch up, even carrying Nora with him, and bringing a wave of fallen leaves along with them. They were tousled and flushed, but Phoebe and Max said nothing.

 

Dr. Colosso didn’t have the same restraint: “And I’m supposed to be the rabbit.”

 

Of course the joke went over Billy’s head, and without context Chloe missed it too.

 

It was eerie to return to the party, everyone still dancing and laughing as if nothing had happened. Chloe had to teleport into one of the bathroom stalls because there was someone at the door checking IDs, and had to bring Max with her, because they wouldn’t let him in without a costume. (“Costumes Only” was apparently a hard and fast rule, even towards the end of the night.)

 

Max went off to wrangle a chair for Chloe, who was gaining color but was still weak.

 

“You and Max seem better?” Nora commented with an inquisitive smile.

 

“What do you mean?” Phoebe asked innocently.

 

“Oh come on! We’re not blind. Billy’s a little slow but that’s not his fault – he fell from the sky as an infant. But he’s not _blind_. You guys had some kind of weird tension thing going. Didn’t they, Dr. Colosso?”

 

“Definitely.”

 

“Even Colosso noticed! And he’s the most self-absorbed out of all of us.”

 

“Thank you, Nora,” Colosso replied. “That’s very kind of you to say.”

 

Phoebe sighed. “OK, fine. Yes, things have been weird between us, like I told Billy earlier. But we talked it through and now, I guess, we’re better.” Phoebe handed her sack to Chloe and then ushered Billy and Nora out of Chloe and Dr. Colosso’s earshot. “But Billy, I could slap you. You let me think…”

 

“Huh?” Billy asked.

 

“You hinted that…”

 

Billy shook his head, not following.

 

“Billy, if you make me say it I really will hit you.”

 

“Billy, what did you tell her?” Nora asked chastisingly. “We agreed to be subtle!”

 

“I didn’t say anything!” Billy protested. But then he winked.

 

“Max had something to tell me, all right, Billy, but it was not at all what you made me think! It was all about how he had soured on the whole villain thing – which, finally, thank God!” Phoebe explained to them what had happened between Max and the Dark Dragon, and about the St. Gabriel’s fire and the S.E.C. “But that is not what you led me to believe! It put me in a very…” Phoebe couldn’t finish the sentence - she didn’t know what to say. Lives in danger had provided a nice distraction but she was back to thinking about their dance, and her error – her _repeated_ error, and – intermittently – imagining herself taking the slide down into his bed with nothing but lacy panties on. 

 

“Well, I don’t know anything about that. Although it would explain why he was so strange about me stealing the costume,” Billy mused, scratching his chin. “I thought he was being ironic. Or that he just really likes elves now.”

 

Nora frowned. “So he didn’t confess something to you, about his feelings for you?”

 

“No, no he did not,” Phoebe answered, and try as she might, she could not hide her vexation.

 

Billy and Nora both made thoughtful ‘Hmmm’s in unison.

 

Phoebe didn’t think she had any further to fall, but when Billy said, “Ha! Well, I guess I was totally off-base”, she felt like her spirit was crushed. There was nothing here, just a dumb brother.

 

Well, two dumb brothers.

 

Max returned with the chair for Chloe, and they all congregated in one of the corners around her. She had to ask them to all back away, and finally sent Billy, who was hovering, off to get her something to drink. Nora accompanied, reminding him about what had happened when he had gone off to pee.  

 

“I could get used to this,” Chloe said, smiling. “Got my chair, soon my drink. Now all I need is some hot boy company. Phoebe, why don’t you take care of that one?”

 

Phoebe smiled dryly. “Point out a guy that isn’t at least 4 years too old for you and then we’ll talk.”

 

She was very troubled by her first thought – that they already had some hot boy company in the form of Max – and she actually made a silent prayer of gratitude afterwards that some form of the comment hadn’t slipped out.

 

Max ended up making the joke himself: “That’s hurtful, Chloe.”

 

Phoebe had been hoping – desperately - that Max might pull her out onto the dance floor again. And when he stood up and bowed, she thought for sure that was what was happening. But of course it was Chloe he was propositioning. “I shouldn’t have let you sit down before you had danced,” he said. “It is a party, after all.”

 

Chloe jumped up, giggling, and took his extended hand.

 

“You were an accident!” Phoebe called out, petulantly jealous of Chloe taking her dance from her, intentionally too quiet to be heard. But she thought it was sweet and smiled as she watched them. Chloe didn’t look a day over 14, so it was only a matter of time before someone asked them to leave the party, but for now it was good fun.

 

There was perfect ease in their dancing. Max even seemed to be dancing more-or-less the same steps as he had with Phoebe, but it was guileless with him and Chloe. Or maybe it was all Phoebe’s perception, and it had been just as innocent between her and Max when they danced.

 

“Very mature,” Colosso critiqued sarcastically, having heard her exclamation.   

 

“Stuff it, Colosso.”

 

“Whoa. Do you kiss your brother with that mouth?”

 

Phoebe’s eyes went wide. “What did you say?’

 

“Nothing.”

 

She turned to him. “For once in your life do you think you could do me a favor?”

 

“Probably not.”

 

“But what if it would help Max? If there’s something he wants to tell me, but he’s too afraid to say it, you would tell me, wouldn’t you?”

 

“No.”

 

“Do you know what I’m talking about?”

 

“Oh, look, Max and Chloe are coming back!”

 

Phoebe gave up on Colosso. He probably knew everything, but he would never help her. And he would probably sabotage her relationship with Max if he could.

 

Max pushed Chloe down into the seat.

 

“I want to dance some more!” she fought.

 

“You looked like you were about to faint,” he argued. “Though Phoebe did earlier, too. It must be my dancing.” He winked at Phoebe.

 

Phoebe’s heart stopped.

 

“You two _danced_ together?” Chloe asked, astonished.

 

Max and Phoebe were saved from answering by the return of Billy and Nora.

 

“I won’t ask what took so long,” Phoebe said, amused.

 

“Get your mind out of the gutter, Phoebe,” Nora replied. “They should write a ballad about our quest to find something non-alcoholic in this place. Because it was ballad-worthy.”

 

Billy nodded supportively.

 

“Shall we dance?” she asked Billy.

 

He nodded again, and they departed.

 

“Sometimes I wonder about them,” Chloe remarked, watching them walk away. “One time I teleported into the bathroom and they were taking a bath together.”

 

Phoebe and Max exchanged an uncomfortable look.

 

“That’s not that weird,” Phoebe dismissed quickly. It was supposed to be damage control but it left Phoebe fearing what else she might have given Chloe to wonder about.

 

Max had his face in his palm.

 

After what she had just said, it was the worst time for it, but she was back to hoping Max would twirl her out. She was ready to torture herself some more by trying to manipulate him into another confession – it seemed like there still remained one thing that he had left to tell her – but all Max wanted to do was gossip with Dr. Colosso about the Dark Dragon and Ms. Marvelous.

 

“…Not just together, but _married_ ,” Max finished recounting.

 

“Shameful,” Dr. Colosso remarked. “Another one bites the dust. Not that I blame him too much, that Ms. Marvelous is a dish.” The rabbit sighed heavily. “There just aren’t any good supervillains left. Not like in my day. And our most promising rising star quits the game,” he lamented further, looking at Max.

 

“Dr. Colosso knows about that?” Phoebe asked, surprised. If he knew about that…

 

“Of course. I tell Dr. Colosso everything,” Max replied. “He’s my best friend.”

 

“Yeah, I know that, but isn’t your whole friendship based on being ‘evil’? And he’s not exactly trustworthy, is he? We don’t even know what he’ll do about” - Phoebe glanced at Chloe - “that _other_ thing from today.”

 

“Don’t be silly, Phoebe,” Max defended. “Colosso is a member of the family. Isn’t that right, Colosso?”

 

“Unfortunately.”

 

“He’ll spend all of our money and destroy our possessions but that’s about as far as his betrayals go. With the exception of the one time he almost let that crab guy kill me.”

 

“I thought we were over that,” Dr. Colosso sighed. “It was a decade ago!”

 

“We are, we are. All in the past! Point is: he’s not going to do anything, is he?” There was a slight edge to his tone, almost a threat.

 

“Nothing except make fun of them to their faces,” Dr. Colosso confirmed.

 

“See?”

 

Phoebe grabbed Max’s arm and dragged him out to the dance floor so Chloe couldn’t hear them talking, laughing awkwardly at Chloe as she did it, as if that were an explanation for her bizarre and sudden action.

 

“And what are _we_ going to do about it?” Phoebe questioned Max, waving back at Chloe and failing to appear casual in every way. 

 

“I thought she would grow out of being a fruitcake,” Dr. Colosso commented to Chloe as Chloe waved back unsurely. “But she never did.”

 

“Are you still on about this?” Max asked, incredulous, and angry. “Just let them live their lives.”

 

She thought they would fall into step together, that he would put his arms around her – envelop her – like he had before – but he didn’t.

 

“I think you’re right.”

 

Max went still. “You do?”

 

“They’re happy together. _So_ happy. Ms. Marvelous gave up everything to be with Maldeck, that was how much she loved him. Nobody loves each other more than Billy and Nora. So I want to make it easier for them, not harder. Besides, we’re Thundermans: we’re good at keeping secrets.”

 

“Well, it was easy enough at home, when the whole family had the same secret, and we all spent most of our time with each other. Billy and Nora, joined at the hip. And you and I…” He trailed off.

 

Phoebe thought about pushing for him to finish the thought, but instead she picked up the thread herself: “I liked what you said earlier, about the trust between us. You haven’t lost that trust, Max. I don’t think you could. I…I think I love you too much for that.”

 

He stared at her.

 

“Are you trying to decide between calling me corny or calling me cheesy?” she asked softly, blushing a little.

 

“Both good options. Delicious, too. But no.”

 

Phoebe swallowed nervously, staring helplessly back.

 

And then the song changed. At the worst possible moment. The dreamy, slow tune merged into something obnoxious and violent. Was the universe ever going to let them finish this conversation?

 

Apparently not. And Max wasn’t either – he retracted himself from Phoebe, and walked towards the Thunderman corner, looking back just once to make sure Phoebe was following and not lingering, abandoned, in the middle of the dance floor. He snatched Phoebe’s sack and Billy’s arm and left, the brother and rabbit in tow.

 

Phoebe and Nora stared blankly at each other.

 

“What was that all about?” Nora asked.

 

Phoebe shook her head, perplexed. There was something comical about the wordless departure, but she felt like she was going to cry.

 

*/*/*

 

Max couldn’t get back into the party without his costume, so the only place he could take them for a private discussion was into the locked back office. He thought about putting his lock-picking skills to use again but froze the lock instead and broke it to save time.

 

“Did you have to bring me?” Colosso asked. “I have exactly one guess of what it is that you want to talk about and I’m sick of talking about it. I really thought you were going to finally let it go after what happened earlier.”

 

“Nora is not going to like this,” Billy complained as they all went in.

 

“Sorry, Billy. Nora can deal. I’m taking you up on your offer. You said you would be there for me to talk to. Well, I need to talk. Right now.”

 

“Yeah, but when I said that I thought you might want to talk about being in love with your sister. It’s the only thing I’m an expert in. I’m not really sure what else I could advise you about.”

 

“Thank God we have an expert with us,” Colosso quipped. “Maybe we can make some progress.”

 

Max cringed. “God, Billy! I need to ease into it! We can’t all go from zero to sixty in 5 seconds. Not everyone is an ‘expert’ like you.”

 

“I don’t even have a sister,” Colosso added.

 

“So that _is_ what you want to talk about?” Billy asked excitedly.

 

Max shrugged, carefully avoiding a confirmation. “What makes you think it’s not? You were so sure before.”

 

“Yeah, but then Phoebe said-“

 

Max furrowed his brow severely. “What? What did she say?”

 

“Well, nothing really. Just that she thought what was bothering you had to do with her, but then you told her, and it was just all about the whole villain thing and the Dark Dragon and the fire.”

 

“So she told you about everything?”

 

“Yeah. And I was mad for a couple of minutes. But I’ve forgiven you.”

 

Max was going to pass over it, but then he stopped and smiled at Billy. “Thanks.”

 

“So I figured Nora and I were wrong,” Billy finished.

 

“Nora?”

 

“She and I had both always kind of figured that you and Phoebe were like us, just really bad at it.”

 

Max lifted his eyebrows. “Is that right? And do you think Nora told this to Phoebe?”

 

“No, probably not. She doesn’t want you guys together because she’s worried about Mom and Dad. She thinks they could maybe accept us but if you and Phoebe are together too then we’ll all be in family counseling for the rest of our lives.”

 

“A chilling prospect. Yeah, that sounds like Nora.”

 

“But not me! I think it’ll be the best. We can go on double dates! Can we do paintball? I really want to do paintball!”

 

“We can just go do paintball, Billy. It doesn’t have to be a double date.”

 

“Oh right.”

 

“Stop twisting the kid in circles,” Colosso beseeched. “Just tell him you’re in love with Phoebe, and you have been for some time now, and that you’re too afraid to tell her, and that you won’t shut up about it. There, he has been inducted. He’s all caught up. Now you can bother him about it, and I’ll finally be able to finish _House of Cards_.”

 

“But, if that’s true, then why did you tell Phoebe something else?” Billy asked.

 

“Billy, just because I love her doesn’t mean she loves me back. _Perhaps_ you recall how she reacted to you and Nora this afternoon? I had already figured I would probably never tell her, but after today? Besides, even if I was going to tell her, I couldn’t, not until I’d told her what I’d done. She deserved to know and I didn’t want to keep it from her anymore.”

 

“You think she doesn’t love you back?”

 

“Why would she love me back, Billy? Even forgetting for a second that I’m her brother – why would she?”

 

“I don’t know. You’re kind of good-looking, I guess.”

 

Max sighed.

 

“I tried telling him that,” Colosso echoed.

 

“It was a rhetorical question,” Max reassured him, trying to stop any further answers in their tracks. “Anyway, I don’t know how sexy she is going to find me after all the crying I did earlier. I mean, I didn’t bawl like a baby, but still, it wasn’t exactly studly.”

 

“You need to tell her, Max,” Billy urged. “You owe that to yourself and to her.”

 

“Listen to the expert,” Colosso encouraged.

 

It did sound like expert advice.

 

“What do you think, Billy? Do you think it’s possible that she could feel the same way? “

 

“You’ll never know until you ask.”

 

Max frowned. “I’m starting to think you pulled everything you’re saying from a movie.”

 

Billy nodded. “Me too.”

 

“It’s going to be the same old shit on repeat until he tells her, so will you please just tell him something that will give him a little bit of confidence,” Colosso entreated. “Please.”

 

“I already said he was good-looking!”

 

“No, Billy, something about _Phoebe_. Tell him _Phoebe_ is in love with him.”

 

“Well, I wouldn’t judge how she’s feeling by how she’s been acting. I mean, you’ve been avoiding her and acting like you’re angry with her. It’s not like you’re acting like you’re in love. So there’s that. I can tell you absolutely that she’s a wreck over how distant you’ve become.”

 

Max ran his hand through his hair and paced a little. “I pushed her away, because I knew what was happening and I didn’t want her to see it, and I didn’t want to be around her when I couldn’t be _with_ her. But I guess I resented her for not being there for me anyway, because I needed her. And I was mad at her for not loving me back, because I just assumed she didn’t. Doesn’t. And I was mad at her because she made me love her.” Max laughed bitterly. “What a huge complicated mess I’ve made out of something so simple.”

 

*/*/*

 

Nora gave Phoebe a piercing look. “You know, you can always just take charge,” she said. “You don’t have to _wait_ for him.”

 

This was an abrupt change of subject, as they had just been pointing out cool costumes. Chloe was baffled.

 

After a moment of surprise, Phoebe shook her head, looking off into the distance. She didn’t bother being skittish about what Nora was implying: “I need it to come from _him_.”

 

Nora nodded comprehendingly. It was exactly why she and Billy hadn’t pushed harder on their siblings. They could have Beatrice-and-Benedicked them, but Nora figured that a more organic course would be better, would potentially cause less damage.

 

“If he felt it, he’d say it,” Phoebe reasoned dismally.

 

“Not necessarily. He’s kind of a wuss.”

 

“Who are we talking about? Phoebe, do you have a new boyfriend?” Chloe asked.

 

“Just a crush,” Phoebe answered with a sad smile. “We’ve known each other for a long time. It’s always…dangerous, when feelings change. Because if they don’t change in the same way then everything falls apart.”

 

*/*/*

 

The boys returned, and everyone seemed to know what needed to happen, but no one seemed to know how to make it happen.

 

Except for Nora: “Hey Max, Phoebe was just saying how much she wanted to dance again. You’ll dance with her, right?”

 

Phoebe coughed and glared gratefully at Nora.

 

 “Ooh, I’ll dance with her!” Billy said excitedly.

 

Nora laughed and dug her nails into his side. “No, _you won’t_.”

 

Max patted Billy on the back and the moved around him to stand in front of his twin. “Dweebie?” He held out his hand for her.

 

With a roll of her eyes she took his hand and followed him out to the floor.

 

She was relieved that, unlike before, he wasn’t remote and wooden with her. They fused together gracefully, and then Max yanked her closer, sliding one arm around her back and taking her hand with the other. It was all one fluid motion, executed like it had been practiced. They were the only two people slow dancing but she could not care less. In fact, she thought it was pretty great.

 

“Do you really want to know why I was so unhappy in Metroburg, that whole time?” he asked, leaning in, like he had earlier, to speak directly into her ear. But this time he pulled back to look her in the eyes.

 

She nodded.

 

“I missed you,” he said simply, with a shy little shrug. “I was miserable… _without you_.  I have been such a fucking idiot. It took me accidentally killing someone to realize that villainy might not actually be ‘my jam’, and it took losing you to realize how much I need you.”

 

“You…you need me?” she repeated uncertainly.

 

He laughed, embarrassed, and looked away. “I guess so.” He sighed. “I never realized how much we…”

 

“Belonged together?” she finished for him, raising her eyebrows timidly. 

 

Max gaped at her.

 

She instantly regretted her words and began to withdraw from him but he tightened his hold on her. She struggled for a moment and then chose another tack: “I only mean that…we complement one another. Different methods, different skills. But a good team. We proved that today.”

 

“I’m not so against what I thought-“

 

Max was interrupted by an oblivious partygoer who tapped Phoebe on her shoulder and complimented her costume. Then she gave Max and his street clothes a dirty look and walked off.

 

“What were you saying?” Phoebe pursued hopefully, not allowing them to get off track.

 

He wasn’t willing to commit again to his original thought; the interruption had scared him off: “Never mind.”

 

This was her fault; she was the one who had wavered, receded. She had to fix it: “Today has been the longest day of my life,” she began with a short laugh. “I was lost too, Max. I know you think I had some magical life in Metroburg, and maybe I made it sound that way, but I wasn’t satisfied either. _I_ was miserable without _you_. For a long time I didn’t know why. I missed you, I knew that, I knew I was hurt that you were avoiding me, and I knew that I wanted to see you more, even that it was a sort of desperation. But, God, today…Today I realized-“

 

“Sir, are you here with this young lady?” a man asked Max. Phoebe recognized him as one of the bouncers that had been working the door earlier that evening. His hand was so large he could stretch it all the way around Chloe’s arm, is thumb and middle finger even overlapping.

 

“Can’t two people have a goddamn conversation in this place? Max asked, comically outraged. He subtly blew his heat breath at Phoebe, and she instinctively countered with ice. Then he switched to ice and their breath met, and the entire city block frosted over in under a second.

  
“Oh my God, Max!” Phoebe cried, the echo of the chatter of her teeth bouncing around the silent cave of ice.

 

“Finally, some peace and quiet,” he declared.


	8. The Leap

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is it, the final chapter.

 “Almost getting killed by the Dark Dragon wasn’t enough? You had to expose us to the whole city?” Phoebe demanded.

 

“Relax, _Pheebs_. No one lives in this district and it’s well after 11PM on a Friday, so no one’s at work either. It just looks like there’s a theme for the party. Ice Ball or something.”

 

“You don’t know how far the ice went! City Hall could be frozen over!”

 

“I was careful.” He took off his leather jacket and hung it over her shoulders. “Besides, it’s beautiful.”

 

Phoebe observed the warehouse winter wonderland. It was dimmer now that the lights weren’t working, but the moon was full and its illumination poured in through the skylights and reflected off the ice. It _was_ beautiful.

 

(And private. And silent.)

 

And it was a startling reminder of their combined power. “We are _awesome_ …” she marveled. “And kind of scary.”

 

The moonlight was more than a little romantic; she studied his face to see if he felt it too, and he seemed unnerved by her examination. Phoebe wasn’t going to let the moment get away from her again: “Today I realized-“

 

Suddenly “Hips Don’t Lie” began to play, and Phoebe couldn’t figure out how the totally frozen sound system had magically begun to work again, until it dawned on her that it was Max’s phone ringing. It was again longer than it should have been before she figured out that the phone was in _her_ pocket because she was wearing his jacket. 

 

They both laughed. At this point it had to be some kind of cosmic joke. 

 

She pulled his phone out and rejected the call from “Desirée”.

 

“Judging by the hour I would guess this is a booty call,” Phoebe remarked, holding up the screen for him to see the name.

 

“What can I say? The ladies dig me.”

 

“’Desirée?’ She sounds like a stripper.”

 

“That’s her real name.” Max defended. “She is a stripper, though.”

 

“Oh, well then maybe I should have let you take the call,” Phoebe replied, irked.

 

The playful banter was starting to become a genuine argument, so Max took the phone out of her hands and put it back into the jacket pocket. “The only person I am interested in is right here.”

 

Phoebe couldn’t help a sharp inhale. Then she cleared her throat and began to babble a little while she paced: “You are talking about me, right? Because technically there are a lot of people in this room. Literally over a hundred. And if I thought you were talking about me, and you weren’t, that would-“

 

Max feigned a slight gasp. “Oh no, you thought I was talking about _you_?” He snickered.

 

Phoebe stopped breathing mid-breath and it made a little squeak that she was very embarrassed about. She was reasonably certain he was messing with her, but…

 

Max continued: “I was talking about this chick.” He gestured at the frozen figure of a girl dressed up like a sexy nurse. “I’m really into her.”

 

Phoebe used her telekinesis to make him slap himself. “It’s a good thing she’s a nurse because you’re going to need one,” Phoebe threatened.

 

Max stuck his finger out and began to draw Phoebe slowly towards him while she flailed in surprise, her feet a few inches off the ground. “Well if powers are fair game…”

 

He didn’t release her until her face was only inches from his.

 

She straightened her back, trying to regain her dignity – as much from her telekinetic ride as from being so close to him – but she only began to gibber again: “We should probably defrost them soon. Someone is bound to come along. I’m already going to be in trouble with the League for not staying to be debriefed. You know how I feel about getting in trouble. About doing the wrong thing. About-“

 

Max cut off her verbiage with a resolute kiss, expertly wrapping her up in his arms like he had done so many times throughout the evening. Despite her surprise she yielded instantly, melting against him and allowing him to leisurely deepen it. As rapidly vigorous as it had began, it evolved into something sweet and savored, until, reluctantly, they pulled away.

 

Phoebe slowly opened her eyes. “You kissed me,” she said rapturously.

 

“Oh good, I was worried you hadn’t noticed.”

 

Giggly with delight, she laughed instead of rolling her eyes. “That’s a good one.”

 

“Is it, though?” he asked, a little concerned. 

 

But she only laughed harder. “I thought I was crazy.”

 

“’Was’ crazy? As in past tense?” he teased.

 

“I mean, I thought it was only me.”

 

“Only you? Hardly. Haven’t you heard? All the kids are doing it.”

 

Phoebe laughed more: “Billy told me, well he hinted, that…and then you kept telling me things but not _that_ thing… I thought I was all alone feeling this way….we just kept orbiting around it…”

 

“Billy!” Max growled, as if it were a curse. “That kid is a lot more trouble when he thinks he’s being smart.”

 

Phoebe finally composed herself. “Don’t be mad at Billy! If he hadn’t made me think you had some enormous romantic confession for me, I wouldn’t have known I was disappointed when it didn’t come. And didn’t come. And didn’t come.”

 

“You can’t blame me for being hesitant after the way you were reacting to Nora and Billy earlier. Still, I tried to tell you so many times, but I guess I wasn’t meant to say it. I had to find another way to tell you.”

 

She slid a little closer to him. “Maybe you should tell me again.”

 

He was still smiling when he planted the kiss on her lips. She threw her arms around his neck and leveraged them to jam their mouths together. 

 

Phoebe heard him yelp and he jumped back from her. “You bit me!” he cried, touching his finger to his lip. He held the finger up for her to see, a ruby of blood decorating the tip. “You’re as kinky as Nora!” he accused.

 

Phoebe couldn’t contain her laughter. “You used to bite me all the time!” she returned.

 

“Well I shouldn’t have done that. It’s very painful.”

 

“I know, I’m sorry. I’m sorry! Honestly, I didn’t mean to bite you that hard. There wasn’t supposed to be _blood_.”

 

“Maybe you should stop laughing. It makes me feel like your apology isn’t sincere.”

 

“Awwww. Poor baby.” She puckered her lips at him in mocking sympathy. “Let me make it better for you.” Phoebe leaned in and ran her tongue over his lip, but she pulled back right away and crinkled her nose. “Ugh.”

 

“What the hell are you doing?” Max gawked at her.

 

“I don’t know! It was supposed to be sexy but I forgot that blood actually tastes gross.” She smacked her tongue a few times distastefully and then sighed. “I’m guessing this has all been a huge turn-off.”

 

“Well, it should have been, but I’m more turned on than I’ve been all night and it’s really scaring me. Apparently the more of a dork you are the more attracted to you I am.”

 

He looked at her in a way that made her blush. She wondered the entire party didn’t melt in the heat she felt.

 

“It must be love,” she said softly.

 

“Must be,” he echoed, regarding her thoughtfully.

 

She closed her eyes and breathed deeply. “This is crazy! Do you really think we could work? As a couple? It’s absurd. And I don’t just mean the obvious thing. I’m talking about us, as people, being together.”

 

“Beats being apart.”

 

Her gaze flew to him, and for a moment she just stared. She shook her head, astounded at the simple wisdom, and at the way it simplified the situation for her like a light being turned on. “It’s amazing…When you put it like that it seems perfectly sensible.”

 

“Sensible _and_ dangerous – we’ve managed to find the one thing that will appeal to us both.”

 

She gave him a dry look, which curdled into concern. “But what if we want different things?”

 

Max grabbed his hair and pretended to pull it out. “You’re overthinking it, just like with Billy and Nora.”

 

“But it matters!”

 

“Well, what _do_ you want?”

 

“To be together.”

 

“That’s what I want. See? There’s no problem here.”

 

“But-but” Phoebe stuttered helplessly.

 

Max placed his hands on her shoulders. “Whatever it is, just say it. Be vulnerable, and I’ll earn that trust. I promise.”

 

“I’m…I’m worried that we’re not on the same level about how serious this is.”

 

“Don’t worry, I’m not under any illusions about the consequences. I know Mom and Dad are going to lose their shit. And everyone else will too.”

 

“That’s not what I mean. I’m talking about…well, the future.”

 

Understanding dawned on his face. “I see. You think I’m looking to have a booty call right down the hall.”

 

She shifted uncomfortably but didn’t correct his interpretation, even thought it wasn’t _exactly_ what she was trying to get at.

 

Max cupped her face. “Phoebe, do you think I would even be having this conversation with you if I wasn’t serious as fuck?” He shook her head for emphasis. “I spent enough time without you to know that that’s not how I want to spend the rest of my life.”

 

They stared at each other, Max encouragingly, and Phoebe slowly nodding. “Me too,” she whispered. “Me too.” But then Phoebe broke free of him and began to pace, yet again. “It just feels like we’re leaping, you know? I’m not a leaper, Max. I don’t leap. I don’t know what’s down there. I…I just have to know you’re leaping with me.”

 

He intercepted her. “I’m with you. I swear I am.”

 

“This is insane! This morning I didn’t even…It’s just very startling to go from nothing to what we’re talking about, all in one day. And I’m so scared…But I’ve never felt this way before. I’m changed. I can’t walk away from this. I don’t want to. And I couldn’t go back, even if I wished I could.”

 

She felt changed, but more than anything she felt like everything she had never been sure about in her life suddenly made sense.

 

“We were never nothing, Phoebe. You’re acting like we met this morning. You’re also acting like we’re standing outside the church trying to decide whether to go in and get married or not, like it’s our only chance and if we don’t do it then we’re severed forever. There are no hellos or goodbyes in this relationship. So relax. I’m not worried about the future – I already know I’m never going to love anyone else the way I love you. And now that I know you feel the same way, I’ve never been surer of anything than I am of you and me.” Phoebe tucked her crying face into his shoulder and he encircled her in a hug. “It’s the only part of my life I’m sure about,” he finished.

 

Phoebe, suddenly energized, lifted her face. “I’ve had an idea about that.”

 

Max furrowed his brow. “About what?”

 

“You. Villains. Superheroes, etc.”

 

“I’m all ears.”

 

“We never would have escaped if you hadn’t had a personal connection with the Dark Dragon. You knew his lair, you knew what to say so that someone would take you to speak to him. You knew what the jammer looked like and where to find it.”

 

“Yeah. So?”

 

“So…Undercover work! Get in cozy with the villains and then help us bring them down when the time comes. That way you could continue to do villain-ish activities, as it pleases you, while still doing the right thing in the end. No one else could do it – no one else has your reputation in the evil community. Or is the right amount of jerk like you are.”

 

Max considered the idea, his hope growing. “You think the League would go for that?”

 

“ _I_ would go for it, Partner.”

 

“Partner?”

 

She nodded. “Partner. Well, _sidekick_.”

 

“We’ll negotiate later.” He kissed her excitedly. “It’s brilliant!” He cleared his throat and straightened up. “I mean, whatever. I guess it’s an OK idea.”

 

“I’ll have it a little easier than Ms. Marvelous if you’re only a fake villain.”

 

“Well, I’m still your brother.”

 

“I think I’d rather be in love with my brother than an actual villain.”

 

“So, we’re in love, then?”

 

“Yeah, I think we are.”

 

*/*/*

 

A few of the party guests were from Hero University and realized they had been whammied, but all the others shook off their confusion (and their sudden chill), and partied on. Most of them would probably never even realize that 30 minutes of their lives had gone by unusually quickly.

 

Nora wasn’t particularly happy: “That was time I could have spent in bed.” She meant sleeping, but she didn’t particularly care what her audience thought she meant.

 

Before Max and Phoebe thawed the party, they took the icicle of a bouncer to the back office so that Chloe could stay. (They had to thaw their siblings first to help carry him, though.) But this was in vain: “I’m ready to leave,” Chloe announced.  

 

“But we just got here 30 minutes ago. Well, 30 minutes for us,” Nora argued.

 

Chloe shrugged. With her teleportation power, she was used to coming and going as it pleased her. Not having to travel anywhere made her somewhat oblivious to standard expectations of duration of stay (as it related proportionally to distance and travel time). And the family was used to being at Chloe’s whim, since she was so often their “ride”.

 

Everyone readily agreed to leave – Dr. Colosso was the only one genuinely disappointed. Chloe took them all back to the dorm where they enjoyed another serving of the ice cream cake.

 

Max and Billy reassembled the Lord Jayesen costume in its packaging. “If people knew what this thing had been through, it would be worth a lot more now,” Max commented, handing it over to Billy and sending him off to take it back.

 

Phoebe and Nora snuck off to the roof, inventing an errand. The full moon shined on Phoebe’s face and made her smile. Forever it would remind her of Max and their momentary icy kingdom.

 

“Max and I aren’t going to tell anyone or do anything, I promise. And Max has vouched for Dr. Colosso,” Phoebe reassured her, first thing. “It’ll be like nothing happened.”

 

“I’m sure Dr. Colosso will gossip about it online, but no one will believe him,” Nora reasoned. “He’s a well-renowned liar.”

 

Phoebe couldn’t help but warn her: “Mom and Dad are going to find out eventually. It might not be for years. But at some point they’re going to start asking questions. Or Chloe might tell them that she caught you two bathing together!”

 

Nora laughed. “I’ve been waiting for that to come back and bite us in the ass.” She shrugged. “We’ll tell them. Someday.”

 

Phoebe nodded, satisfied. “I guess that’s going to be our policy too.”

 

Nora’s gasped. “What?”

 

Phoebe tried to play it cool but she couldn’t help but beam. “Billy was right about Max. It doesn’t make any sense, but, well, somehow _us too_ , I guess you could say.”

 

“You guys are together now?”

 

“Looking at it now, it almost seems inevitable.” Phoebe shook her head and laughed. “You and Billy grew up as a unit. You grew into this _singularity_. It was so different for Max and me, but we still became symbiotic. I missed him so much. I ached for him. I guess I knew it wasn’t quite normal. But I can’t believe I didn’t realize until today that it was because I was missing a part of myself. Today has been the epiphany – and it has been a real rollercoaster (and you know how I feel about those) - but these feelings were already there. I was just too dense to figure out exactly what they were.  
 Phoebe studied her sister’s face. “You’re not surprised, are you?”

 

“Not really. Nothing else seemed to make sense. And I couldn’t help but compare you two to us. I told Billy not to play cupid because I thought it was going to make it harder for us later on. But now I know we all have each other, and I’m so glad.”

 

The sisters hugged.

 

“So how was your birthday?” Phoebe asked, laughing.

 

“Pretty much an ordinary day.”

 

*/*/*

 

Billy and Nora tried to evict everyone from the dorm as soon as they could.

 

Chloe jumped Phoebe’s whole car with the four of them in it and took them back to Hiddenville. Phoebe double-checked with Chloe that she was alright after what she had been through that day and then sent her up to bed. Dr. Colosso wandered off, either to blog or watch _House of Cards_.

 

This left Max and Phoebe standing awkwardly in the center of the living room, unsure what to say or where to go.

 

“We should probably take some time,” Phoebe pointed out, “to think and consider. Before we…you know.”

 

“But we’re not going to, right?”

 

Phoebe shook her head. “No way.”

 

Max grinned and advanced on her to kiss her, but the jingling of keys at the backdoor warned him off. “Mom and Dad!” he cried, hopping away from her.

 

Hank and Barb came in boisterously through the kitchen. “Hank, we must be the worst parents ever,” Barb said gravely.

 

“I know,” Hank echoed. “The worst.”

 

Max and Phoebe looked at each other in alarm. Phoebe’s stomach began to swim. What did their parents know? Did they know about Billy and Nora? Did they know about her and Max? Had they seen them about to kiss? Did they know that Max had been involved in the St. Gabriel’s fire? Did they know that all of their children had been kidnapped that day and held by the city’s greatest supervillain? Did they know that Phoebe took Chloe to a college party?

 

“How could we forget to call our own daughter on her 18th birthday?” Barb said. She slapped her forehead. “I’m a bad mother.”

 

Hank patted her comfortingly. “Everyone makes mistakes.”

 

“Hank!”

 

“All I’m saying is, the calendar is still on September, but it’s almost November. And if you had flipped the calendar over to the current month, we would have seen Nora’s birthday on there and remembered to call her.”

 

“Walk away, Hank!”

 

“Walking away!”

 

Hank ran into his eldest children in the living room. “Oh. What are you guys doing here?” he asked.

 

“We live here,” Max reminded him.

 

“Oh yeah. Still?”

 

“Still,” Phoebe answered cheerfully.

 

“Where have you guys been so late?” Max asked, eagerly changing the subject.

 

“Bingo. This is the third week in a row they’ve had us out after 1AM. I don’t know how much longer we can run with that Bingo crowd.”

 

Barb followed him out. “Who would have thought?” she mused. “Good night, kids.”

 

Their parents went up to their room without an ounce of suspicion, even though Max and Phoebe could feel themselves oozing it. But Hank and Barb apparently weren’t in an observant mood – they didn’t even ask Phoebe why she was wearing a toga.

 

Max turned to her. “So…my bed or yours?”

 

“Yours. I want to take the slide!”

 

*/*/*

 

THE END

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, that was it! I have no plans to continue the story, but if I do it’ll probably just be an epilogue or tag of sorts. I usually feel so awkward about my endings to my longer stories, but I actually love this one, even if it is a little abrupt. I like that this enormous story takes place all on one night, and I moved Phoebe and Max to where I wanted them to go. (To bed!) It has been a long time since I wrote a multi-chapter fic – thank you all for making it such a great experience for me! I really hope you all enjoyed it, and I can’t tell you how much I appreciate all my readers and my reviewers.


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